Better Late Than Never
by IrishDipstick
Summary: Jethro and Patricia jet off on a well earned holiday leaving Tony and Abby in charge of the girls. Warning may contain spanking or corporal punishment of a minor. Don't like, don't read - it's my story!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 1**

It had been about two weeks since their return from Stillwater. During that time two things had happened. Taylor had regained her freedom and Vicky had convinced her parents to let her stay for the rest of the summer vacation. It didn't stop there though, Taylor's world was about to get even better. Her mom and dad were flying off to Paris in the morning, leaving herself and Vicky in the allegedly capable hands of Tony and Abby. Vicky had just moved the last of her stuff out of the spare room. She would be bunking in with Taylor, so that her room would be free for Tony or Abby to use. They still had to fight that one out, and both seemed determined to take the larger double room. Taylor already had a good idea how that one was gonna end up. Her dad was bound to let Abby have his room, he always seemed to let Abby have her own way. Tony didn't stand a chance. It would have made more sense for her and Vicky to move into the larger bedroom, there wasn't gonna be a whole lot of space in her own single bed for the two of them, but oh no, her father and his suspicious mind had immediately ruled that one out. Why? He still didn't trust her, especially when it was possible to climb out his window and down the trellis. Just because the perfect escape route was there, did not mean she was going to use it. Bristling at the thought, Taylor paced over to the door, cracking it open in an attempt to hear what was being said. After the last time Tony stayed, her dad was taking no chances that she might find out the security code from him. That's why they were both banished to her bedroom right now. In her opinion, it was about time he started trusting her a bit more and she'd told her father exactly that. He had not agreed, just looked at her as if she had grown horns, then informed her that she was lucky they didn't just lock her up in the basement for the week.

Closing the door again when she heard nothing, Taylor checked her watch. Jared would be showing up at the skate park shortly and she was gonna be late.

Enough was enough. Grabbing her skates Taylor turned to her cousin. "You coming?"

Vicky looked glanced up from the pile of clothes she was folding. "I'll maybe catch up with you later. I want to finish this first."

That'd be right Taylor thought, the girl was a real neat-freak. Looked like she was on her own. Undeterred, she made her way downstairs.

Taylor might have managed to sneak up undetected on the group in the kitchen, but unfortunately they weren't talking about anything interesting.

She couldn't resist winding Tony up. "Get everything written down in your notebook Tony?"

He jumped and fired her a dirty look. "Don't even think about it!" Tony was determined the kid was not going to get anything over on him this time.

Sticking her tongue out at him, Taylor dismissed his reply and turned to her mom. "Can I go now? Jared's gonna be waitin' for me."

At the first sign of a nod Taylor was out through the kitchen door. If she ran, Jared wouldn't have the advantage of warming up before she got there.

A whistle stopped her dead in her tracks, before she had even reached the front fence. Sighing, Taylor retraced her steps to where her dad was waiting for her.

"Forget something?" He held up her helmet.

Crap! That was a rookie mistake. If she wasn't careful, one of these days he was gonna figure out she never wore it.

"Thanks dad." Taylor mumbled, before taking possession of the embarrassing item. Hardly any of the other skaters used helmets. Like hers, they were normally relegated to one of the benches.

"Don't look like that! You know the score. No helmet, no skating."

"I know. I just forgot, being late and all." Well it was true, she did usually take it.

"Uh huh." He wasn't sure whether to believe her or not. "Just don't be late for dinner, you know we want to talk to the pair of you. It's the last chance we'll get before we leave."

"I'll be there." With that, Taylor took off at a run again, this time actually making it away from the house.

Jared headed straight for Taylor as soon as he spotted her. Since her return to DC he had been her constant companion. He had even spent the time when she'd been away practising, just to impress her. He hoped it had worked. It wasn't really the skating he liked, it was Taylor.

Giving him a grin, Taylor stashed her helmet under the seat with the others and quickly changed into her skates. She'd been looking forward to this all day. All set, Taylor didn't waste any more time. Grabbing Jared's hand she towed him towards her favourite part of the park.

o

Tony had moved into Vicky's room by the time Taylor made it home for dinner. He was now making himself comfortable in the chair, opposite hers at the table. It could be her imagination, but Taylor was sure her godfather was under the illusion that he was already in charge.

"Did you wash your hands?" Tony sat back in his chair and folded his arms.

It wasn't her imagination. Shit! This did not bode well. "Yes Tony, and you're not the boss until tomorrow." For the second time that day DiNozzo was treated to a view of Taylor's tongue.

This time Tony returned the gesture, then flinched when Jethro's hand made contact with the back of his head.

"No fighting." Sitting down beside Tony he added, "Not until we're out of the country."

"Dad? You sure Abby can't do this on her own?" Taylor asked, not taking her eyes off Tony.

"No Abby can not do this on her own." Jethro pointed to her plate. "Now quit stirring, and eat."

When they had all finished eating Jethro launched into his 'warning' speech. "I'm gonna keep this simple. Tony and Abby are both aware of the way you're both expected to behave, so whatever they tell you to do, you do it. If they say you can't do something, then don't." When it looked as if Taylor was about to protest he held his finger up, and she closed her mouth again. "No questions asked, they're in charge!"

"What if Tony turns into an axe wielding psycho? Can I shoot him?"

"No, you can't shoot him."

Tony smiled, pleased by his boss's answer. "Don't worry squirt, I'll try to resist the urge."

"Use your baseball bat, you're less likely to hurt someone else by mistake." Jethro advised.

"Gee, thanks boss." Now he was going to have to make sure he hid that bat.

"As for you." Gibbs aimed his best intimidating look at his daughter.

Taylor guiltily slid down in her chair to try and avoid the full heat of his glare.

"There better not be a repeat of last time. I'll be checking in with Tony and Abby every night, so don't think you'll get away with anything. This is not an opportunity to run wild for a week, the pair of you are well aware of the rules. They haven't changed just because your mom and me aren't here. We might not be able to get back here in a hurry, but remember, we'll be home eventually. Understand?"

Both girls nodded.

"Good. Any questions?"

"Yeah." Taylor innocently smiled across at her godfather. " Is Abby more in charge than Tony? Seeing as she got the biggest bedroom and all."

"No. Abby is not 'more in charge'. Now stop trying to wind Tony up. Don't forget, from tomorrow he'll be calling the shots."

He did have a point there. "He knows I'm not serious dad." Taylor aimed a kick at Tony under the table in an attempt to remove the smug grin from his face, but he didn't react.

"Come here." Jethro crooked his finger at her and waited for Taylor to move round to his side of the table.

Too busy trying to stare Tony out, Taylor didn't realise what she'd been summoned for until her father's hand collided sharply with her butt.

"OW! What was that ….. oh!" Now it clicked.

"What have I told you about kicking people?"

"Don't do it." Taylor mumbled. "I just wanted to get Tony's attention."

"Well you got MY attention instead." He pulled her onto his lap. "You gonna miss us?"

Taylor shifted uncomfortably. That had stung. "Might miss mom."

Patricia smiled at her from the head of the table, but couldn't help wonder if leaving the kids with Jackie and Leon might have been a better choice, after all they had offered. Still, time would tell, and as long as everyone remained in one piece while they were gone she'd be happy, and if the house was still standing on their return, that would be an added bonus.

o

"TO…..NY!" Taylor stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her godfather to drag himself out of bed.

She gave him a minute to respond before advancing up the stairs. "TO…..NY!" Pounding on his door Taylor made sure he would hear her this time.

He did, and opened the door, mid pound, looking confused and half asleep. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"We're outta milk." Taylor informed him seriously.

"What?" Rubbing his eyes, Tony looked back at the digital clock beside the bed. "Taylor it's just gone five thirty!"

"I'm hungry!"

"Well make toast or something!" His head was still swimming, he'd been up earlier when Jethro and Patricia left.

"I always have Rice Krispies Tony." Folding her arms Taylor made it perfectly clear she wasn't going to back down.

Tony took a deep, calming breath. "Alright, give me a minute."

Leaning against the wall Taylor waited patiently for him to reappear. She didn't have to wait long, and was soon following a very dishevelled DiNozzo downstairs.

When he lifted his car keys and headed out the front door, closing it behind him, Taylor sat down on the bottom stair and counted. Yep. There it was, right on time. The alarm rang out, breaking the Sunday morning silence. The neighbours were gonna be SO pissed.

Tony was visible now, through the glass in the door, fumbling through his pockets for the house key. From the look on his face he hadn't bothered to put it on his keyring yet. When he realised the key wasn't there he began to get even more flustered. Taylor almost felt sorry for him. There was no trace of the smug expression from last night, then she quickly pushed the guilt aside. After all he'd been responsible for the first swat she'd received in weeks. In the midst of his panic Tony spotted her and actually looked relieved. Taylor immediately rushed to the door and let him in.

The noise and adrenalin must have woken him up a good bit, because he had the presence of mind to cover her eyes with his hand as he punched in the code. The ringing stopped abruptly and Tony relaxed.

"What happened?" She managed to sound concerned.

"Forgot about the alarm, and my key." His face was flushed by the traumatic experience.

Taylor lifted the key from the shelf by the door. "This it?"

"Yeah, thanks." Feeding the key onto the ring with his others, Tony peeked cautiously out through one of the glass panes to make sure none of the neighbours were there, waiting to complain. "Milk, right?"

"Uh huh." Taylor was trying really hard not to grin.

"Okay." Opening the door, he double checked it was safe to leave, before sprinting to his car.

She watched the car roar off down the street, before closing the door. Tony had forgotten to reset the alarm, and technically she could leave if she wanted, but that was not going to happen. Taylor climbed the stairs, passing Vicky at the top. There was only one place she was going right now. Back to bed. It was way to early to be up on a Sunday morning.

Vicky crawled into bed beside her cousin. "Whatever you just did to him, I don't want to know."

"Aw, where's your sense of humour?" Taylor giggled. "You should have seen the look on his face when the alarm was blaring away and he couldn't get in to switch it off!"

Vicky propped herself up on her elbows. "Aren't you worried he's gonna tell your dad?"

"You think he's gonna admit to screwing up, just a couple of hours after they left? No way Tony is ever gonna do that. Now quit worrying and go to sleep."

Rolling over, and pulling the cover over her head, Taylor quickly drifted off.

When Tony eventually made it back, after a trip that not only involved going to the store, but also visits to three separate ATMs in the search for cash, Taylor was nowhere to be seen. Hoping she had gone back to bed so he could do the same, he slotted the all important carton of milk into the refrigerator door, right beside another unopened one. It took a few seconds for it to register that he'd been played, but when it did it was like a Gibbs' slap to the back of the head.

"Shit!" Swearing to an empty kitchen, Tony headed back upstairs to make sure Taylor was still in the house, resetting the alarm on the way.

From her doorway Tony couldn't actually see her, but was able to identify three arms. Resisting the urge to throttle the brat he quietly closed the door. He was going back to bed and wasn't getting up until Abby appeared to give him a bit of support. The kid had learnt from the master, and it was coming back to bite him in the ass.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 2**

When Abby arrived later that morning she found an extremely tired Tony at the kitchen table trying to kick start himself with strong, dark coffee.

She nodded to the cup. "You're really getting into the whole 'Gibbs' thing Tony, you'll be dying your hair grey next. Abby clapped her hands excitedly, and was just about to give him a few tips to enhance the transformation, when Tony held up his hand to stop her.

"After a week here I won't need the dye."

"What'd I miss? I got here as early as I could!" A little disappointed, Abby lowered herself into a chair. "Where are Taylor and Vicky? Tony you haven't lost them already have you? Cause …."

"No, I haven't lost them, they're still in bed." Taking another mouthful of coffee, Tony explained what had happened.

Abby stifled a giggle.

Tony was not impressed. "It's not funny Abs! I've had a steady stream of neighbours at the door complaining since eight o'clock. Right now I could wring her neck."

"This coming from someone whose idea of fun is to superglue Tim's fingers to his keyboard?" Abby was confused, Tony wasn't sounding like Tony. "You're just mad that Taylor got one over on you."

Shaking his head in disagreement, Tony drained his cup. "No, but if I let her get away with this its going to set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the week."

Jumping to her feet Abby's hands flew to her hips. "Just what are you planning to do to her?"

Don't look at me like that! I'm gonna spank her, not shoot her!"

"Anthony DiNozzo you will do no such thing!" Abby was pacing now, arms gesticulating wildly. "It was just a prank Tony! Give the kid a break. You know how hard Gibbs is on her."

Rubbing his hands over his face, Tony wished for about the hundredth time that he was still in bed. "Yeah I know. I also know there's a reason for it. As far as Taylor's concerned it's the only thing that has any effect. You give that kid an inch and she takes a mile, every time."

"Well I think it's about time someone gave her the chance to prove herself." She sat down and folded her arms. "I'm not backing down on this one Tony."

He didn't have the energy to argue. "Alright, we'll do it your way, but remember, I did warn you." Abby was going to have to learn the hard way, just like he had.

"Thank you, thank you Tony!" Throwing her arms around his neck she kissed him on the cheek. "It'll be just like an experiment."

"Yeah, one that's gonna blow up in our faces!" Tony mumbled.

"Huh?" Abby had been so caught up in her own plans she hadn't heard him clearly.

"Nothing. But seeing you're so keen to handle things you can deal with Taylor when she finally shows her face. I'm going to get some more sleep."

o

Taylor stayed upstairs for as long as she could before hunger drove her down to the kitchen. Peeking cautiously into the kitchen she tried to determine if it was safe to enter.

"Tony isn't here Taylor, you can come in." Abby told her.

Heading straight to the cupboard, then to the refrigerator, Taylor filled her cereal bowl and claimed her usual chair at the table. "Where's Tony?" She asked around a mouthful of Rice Krispies.

"He's in bed. For some reason he didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Oh. He told you about that?" Taylor lowered her spoon. "Is he mad at me?" She didn't wait for Abby to answer. "Is he gonna tell my dad?" That was the all important question.

"Let's just say he's not very happy, but I think I managed to calm him down." The poor kid looked extremely worried. "So I don't think he'll tell Gibbs."

"I'll tell him I'm sorry when he gets up." Taylor promised.

Grinning at her, Abby patted Taylor's hand. "That's a good idea."

Taylor grinned back, but not for the same reason. She was thinking about all the possibilities that were opening up for the week. Abby was a push over.

o

The opportunity to apologise to Tony didn't present itself until lunchtime when Taylor arrived home to refuel. Abby watched with interest as Taylor approached her godfather who was leaning against the counter.

Chewing nervously on her lower lip she stared right up at him. "I'm sorry Tony. I won't do it again."

He nodded. "Okay."

Wow! Taylor thought. Tony wasn't even gonna yell, never mind spank. Just to make sure he wasn't gonna change his mind she wrapped her arms around him and hugged. Taylor felt some of the tension leave Tony, and smiled to herself.

"No more pranks Taylor. He told her firmly. "Do you understand?"

Forcing the smile off her face, she stepped away and saluted. "Understood."

o

"Does he ever leave her?" Jason stomped on his skateboard, flipping it through the air, before catching it.

Vicky followed his line of sight to where Taylor and Jared were perched on a low wall. "Aw! Come on, I think its cute!"

"Cute?"

Vicky smiled. "Yeah cute, Taylor doesn't even realise Jared has a crush on her."

Jason pouted. "Well I think he's a pain in the ass." His eyes were still locked on the other boy.

Her smile widened. "YOU'RE JEALOUS!"

Spinning round, Jason glared at Vicky. "AM NOT!"

"Whatever." Vicky told him seriously before melting into a fit of the giggles.

"Come on, we'd better let them know its time to go home."

Taylor glanced at her watch when she spotted Vicky and Jason approaching. Crap! How come time went so fast when she was enjoying herself. A seven o'clock curfew was way too early for her liking.

"You coming?" Vicky handed Taylor her shoes and helmet, expecting her to change.

Instead Taylor shook her head. "You go on, I'm stayin' a bit longer." It was worth a try. Half an hour, that wouldn't be too bad, she didn't want to over do it. It would be interesting to see how Abby would react. At the very least she could wait until Jared's mom picked him up.

Previous experience had taught Vicky that there was little point in arguing with her cousin. She was just about to ask Jason the same question when he sat down on the wall beside the other two.

"I'm gonna hang about for a while too." If Jared was staying so was he.

"Alright suit yourselves." Still using nicotine patches, Vicky would need to change the one she had on soon. She also had no intention of landing herself in trouble. Not knowing either Tony or Abby well, Vicky had no idea how angry they would be if they showed up late. Taylor could be the guinea pig for that.

o

"You're late!" Were the first words Taylor heard as she slunk into the house. Tony was looking decidedly unimpressed.

"Sorry. Didn't want to leave Jared waiting on his own. His mom was late." That wasn't a lie, Jackie had been late although only by a few minutes.

"See! Told you she'd have a good excuse." Abby told Tony as she set the timer on the microwave. "Go put your skates away Taylor, and wash up."

It was clear that Tony didn't seem to share Abby's opinion. He looked angry, so Taylor made sure she gave him a wide berth before hightailing it upstairs. After what had just gone down Taylor was positive. Abby really was, to quote herself 'more in charge than Tony'."

o

Come Monday Tony couldn't leave for work early enough. Taylor had done nothing but push his buttons all evening, but every time he'd attempted to set her straight Abby had intervened. It had only been little things, but to him it had seemed like open season on Tony. If he was lucky, Taylor would be safely tucked up in bed by the time he made it home.

His luck was out. No matter how slowly Tony had worked his way through the large pile of paperwork, he still finished just after eight. There was nothing else for it. He was going to have to go home.

Just about to launch into his best Ricky Ricardo impression Tony stopped when he spotted Abby and Vicky in the living room. Abby's expression was a mixture of guilt and stubbornness.

He was almost afraid to ask. "Where's Taylor?"

"Don't look like that Tony, she's waiting at the skate park with Jared until his mom shows up."

Tony glanced at his watch. It was almost eight thirty and Taylor's curfew was seven. When he looked back up Abby was right in front of him.

She poked a finger into his chest. "Taylor can't just leave the boy there on his own. It's not safe Tony."

"Vicky?" Tony turned his attention to Taylor's cousin.

Not wanting to land Taylor in it she shrugged. "She was with Jared when I left."

Muttering to himself, Tony lifted his car keys and retraced his steps back to the car.

Abby followed. "Don't get mad at her Tony! And don't leave Jared there on his own!"

"I won't. I'm only bringing her home Abby." He reassured her. For someone so smart Abby could sure be dumb sometimes.

Taylor didn't notice him pull up beside the park, so he sat and watched her for a while from the comfort of the car. She was sitting with a group of other kids, most of them looked older than her. He recognised Jason, but Jared wasn't with them. In fact Jared wasn't anywhere in the skate park at all. Temper rising, Tony left the car and made his way over to where his goddaughter was sitting.

He didn't speak until he was right behind her.

"Time to go home Taylor."

He had expected her to jump, but she just pushed herself up off the ground, turned one hundred and eighty degrees on her skates and scowled at him.

"Don't need a ride Tony."

"Way to go. You tell him!" One of the boys called out.

Tony ignored the comment. "Where are your shoes?"

Jason was on his feet now too, feeling extremely uncomfortable at Tony's presence. The man had landed him in a whole heap of trouble before and he didn't want it to happen again. "I'll get them." He skated off to a nearby bench, returning quickly with an armful of shoes and helmets.

"Thanks Jason, go wait in the car." Taylor had shown no signs of moving. He stepped to the side, leaving her a clear path to where he was parked. "Let's go Taylor."

Taylor was pissed. What the hell was he thinking? Showing up here and making her look like a little kid in front of her friends. "I told you already. I don't need a ride, so just leave me the fuck alone!"

Pushing off with her right foot she tried to ignore the whoops and laughter coming from the other skaters, her escape route already formed in her head. However, before she had the chance to move any distance, Tony clamped his hand around her arm, causing her to spin uncontrollably round to face him.

He did not look happy. Maybe she had pushed him just a bit too far. Tony was obviously battling hard with his temper.

"Tony?" Taylor ventured.

Without saying a word Tony grabbed her by the scruff and started to pull her out of the park.

The skates she was wearing made it impossible for to stop and in a matter of seconds Taylor found herself being held, back up against the car. As Tony opened the rear door she could see her friends watching. Some of them were laughing at the spectacle she'd provided. Her embarrassment increased along with her nervousness.

"What'd you have to do that for Tony? Taylor whined.

"Just get in the car. You can explain yourself to Abby."

Any fear about what Tony might do to her when they got home instantly evaporated. Abby she could deal with. "Go fuck yourself Tony!" Taylor heard Jason gasp from inside the car, then got a good view of him when Tony spun her around and smacked her bottom, hard. For one terrible moment the whole park seemed to go completely silent.

Taking advantage of the moment, Tony pushed a stunned Taylor onto the back seat beside Jason, closing the door with a bang.

Tony checked his goddaughter in the rear view mirror as the engine roared to life. He groaned inwardly as she brushed a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand. Abby was gonna kill him, and just like she often warned, there would be no forensic evidence.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 3**

As soon as they pulled into the driveway Taylor, skates off and in her socks, attempted to get out of the car. She needed to get to Abby, fast. Twice she tried to open the door before realising the child locks were on. When the hell did Tony ever use child locks? Not willing to wait for Tony to let her out, Taylor clambered through into the front of the car and out through the driver's door, before bolting down the side of the house and in through the back door.

Taylor threw herself at Abby, wrapping her arms around her tightly, adding a few tears for effect. Under normal circumstances she would have stormed upstairs to her room, but her ass was on the line and she didn't want to risk Tony getting her on her own.

"What happened?" Standing in the middle of the living room with Taylor almost surgically attached Abby could see Tony through the window, talking to Jason.

"Tony spanked me, right in front of everyone!" Taylor cried harder. If she managed to pull this off she'd deserve an Oscar. "I'm never gonna be able to go back there. Ever! I want my mom."

Abby tried to calm her down but the kid seemed inconsolable. Taylor could see Tony as well and Abby felt her tense up when he started to move towards the front door.

"Why don't you wait in the kitchen until I talk to Tony."

Wanting to put off her confrontation with Tony for as long as possible, Taylor sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes before retreating to the kitchen.

The instant Tony stepped into the room Abby started on him. "How could you spank her in front of her friends Tony? We're supposed to be doing things my way, remember?"

"Where is she?"

"In the kitchen. I wanted to talk to you first."

Striding from the room Tony returned a few seconds later, dragging his wayward goddaughter behind him. Pulling her in front of him Tony rested his hands on Taylor's shoulders and pointed her towards Abby.

"Tell her what happened." Tony ground out.

"Already told her." Taylor shuffled uncomfortably, socks slipping on the wooden floor.

"Tell her _all_ of it Taylor."

Turning her head Taylor looked up at him. "Don't wanna."

"Do you want to stand in the corner until you do?"

"Tony! Taylor whined. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"Last chance." He warned.

"Fine!" Resisting the urge to stomp her foot Taylor looked back to Abby. "I told him to leave me alone."

Taylor felt herself being pushed towards the corner. This was not going the way she'd hoped. "Wait! I'll tell her!" She dropped her eyes to the floor, and spoke quickly. "I told him to leave me the fuck alone."

"Why would you do that?" Abby was shocked at the language. "Is that why you spanked her Tony?"

"Oh she's not done yet Abs." He waited for Taylor to continue.

Taylor closed her eyes. "I ...ah... might have told him to ah ... go fuck himself."

When she opened her eyes Abby was right in front of her.

"How could you say something like that?"

"I'm sorry, I lost my temper." She glanced at Tony but he seemed to be more interested in Abby.

He didn't take his eyes off the goth when he spoke again. "What time did Jared get picked up Taylor?"

Shit! She'd forgotten about that. "Not sure."

"Take a guess." Tony prompted.

"It was definitely after seven Tony."

"You know your dads calling tonight. He's not real keen on lying is he?"

The threat was clear and highly effective. Taylor felt her face flush. "Maybe ten past seven, but I was only gonna stay a bit longer. I didn't realise how late it was, honest!" The silence that followed was so unbearable Taylor had to break it. "Better late than never, huh?"

Abby tapped her foot repeatedly on the floor, clearly not impressed. "I'm really disappointed in your behaviour."

Hanging her head Taylor waited for Abby to pass sentence.

"For the rest of the week I want you in bed by eight thirty."

Taylor's head whipped up. "All week?"

"I could make it eight o'clock!" Abby warned.

"No, eight thirty seems fair." She told her quickly.

"You also owe Tony an apology."

She could do that. "Sorry Tony, I didn't mean, you know, what I said. I'm supposed to count to ten so I don't lose my temper."

Tony acknowledged her apology with a nod.

Normal 'happy' Abby returned. "Now that's all settled, you two need to eat. You both missed dinner.

o

Not wanting to push her luck any further, Taylor kept a low profile the next day, making sure she wasn't late for either lunch or dinner. She also avoided the skate park for obvious reasons and had spent most of her time in the woods. Underneath the calm, compliant exterior however, Taylor was still seething about the swat Tony had given her in front of her friends. He was going to pay for that, just as soon as she figured out how.

The idea hit as Taylor lay in bed, listening to the muffled sound of the TV coming from downstairs. Everyone else was downstairs, no doubt enjoying their 'Taylor free' time. Well right now it suited her perfectly to be separated from the others. As quietly as she could, Taylor tiptoed across the landing into her mom and dad's room. Easily finding what she was looking for she then headed straight into Tony's room. It was just too easy Taylor thought as she slipped safely back into bed, mission complete. Tony was so gonna regret smacking her. Her godfather was going to become intimately acquainted with karma.

By the following morning Taylor had forgotten all about her plan for revenge. She had more important things to worry about, the main one being the fact that it was raining, and Abby was making her stay indoors. After a lengthy argument they reached a compromise. Jared and Jason were coming to watch a DVD after lunch. Taylor hadn't missed the large selection of movies Tony had brought with him, or that Poltergeist was one of them. She'd wanted to watch that for ages, but her ban on horror films had kind of got in the way of that. Now with Tony safely at work the ideal opportunity had presented itself.

The four of them sat lined up on the couch. Vicky, Jason, Taylor and Jared, sharing two giant bowls of popcorn between them. The curtains had been closed for effect and Abby had been banished upstairs with her laptop after promising not to bother them while the movie was running.

Everything went smoothly until the end of the film when Jared jumped, propelling one of the bowls of popcorn into the air.

Jason was not going to give up the opportunity to belittle the boy in front of Taylor. "You're such a loser! Scared of a few coffins!"

Taylor immediately sprung to Jared's defence. "Leave him alone Jason and don't be such an asshole! He's not scared, he just jumped."

Not happy with Taylor's reaction Jason didn't want to let it drop. "Yeah he is, can't even speak for himself!"

"I am NOT scared!" Jared finally found his voice.

Both boys were on their feet now, toe to toe. "Okay, prove it!"

Taylor watched the pair with interest, not sure what the big deal was. What she did know though, was if they were going to fight Jason was gonna get a hell of a surprise. He didn't know Jared boxed.

"How am I supposed to do that? We're not exactly surrounded by dead people, are we?"

"That can be arranged, but you're probably too scared to do it!" Jason taunted.

Standing up, Taylor placed herself between the two. "Pack it in Jason! He doesn't have to prove himself to you!"

Jared did not see it that way. Jason was pissing him off big time, and making him look small in front of Taylor. "What do I have to do?" It was a question he knew he'd regret.

"Spend some time in a graveyard." Smirking, Jason continued. "At midnight."

"You think I can sneak out, just like that?" The Vance home also had a security system installed.

Jason reclaimed his spot on the couch, and tried to avoid the angry looks Vicky was aiming in his direction. "See! Told ya he's scared!" He was not expecting what Jared said next.

"Okay, but if I do it, so do you!" Jared grinned as Jason's smirk quickly vanished.

All eyes were on him. Jason didn't have a choice. If he said no then he would be the one who looked like a loser. "Fine."

"Wait a minute! How the hell are you planning to get out at that time of the night Jared?" Taylor was stunned at this new side to her friend.

"Easy. I just won't go home." He made it sound simple.

"You're crazy, your dad will kill you!"

Jared shrugged, looking a lot braver than he felt.

The way Jared was impressing Taylor did not sit well with Jason. "You in Taylor?" He wanted her to be there to see Jared when he freaked out.

Taylor whipped round so fast she almost lost her balance. "Me? How the fuck did I get dragged into this?"

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!" Was the only answer Jason gave.

"I AM NOT SCARED JASON!" Right now she'd like nothing more than to give him a good smack. He wasn't normally such a pain in the ass.

"Don't be an idiot Taylor, do you really want to piss Tony and Abby off any more than you already have?" Vicky was trying to be the voice of reason, not that anyone was listening.

Jason recognised the opportunity Vicky was giving him. "Sorry Taylor, she's right. If you're scared of getting sent to bed early you wouldn't last long in a dark, scary graveyard."

Taylor took the bait, hook, line and sinker. "Wanna bet?"

o

When Taylor had asked Jason if he wanted to bet she'd meant it. She wasn't willing to land herself in trouble for nothing, after all it was the two boys who wanted to prove themselves. If she made it through the witching hour Jason's flip camera was hers, and if she chickened out he would be the new owner of her PSP.

Luckily for the three intrepid ghost hunters the rain cleared up later that afternoon. As soon as the planning began Vicky made herself scarce, the less she knew the better. As for as she was concerned they were all nuts.

About an hour before dinner, which coincided with the time Jared was to be picked up, the little team filed out of the house. Abby's warning not to be late was still ringing in their ears as they turned the corner at the end of the street. For a while they walked in silence, each one hoping that the others would suddenly decide to back out, but not willing to do so themselves.

The whole idea of looking for ghosts had sounded exciting, but in reality it was one of the most boring things Taylor had ever done. They had killed a lot of time messing around in their favourite part of the woods, until they couldn't put it off any longer. The light was almost completely gone by the time the trio made their way through the elaborate cast iron gates of the cemetery. It wasn't one of the modern graveyards Taylor had seen before. Instead it was relatively small and surrounded by an extremely tall stone wall. Shining her torch at the headstones she checked out some of the dates. The oldest one she'd found so far was 1867. It was hard to imagine the person buried there had once been alive like her.

Jason led them to the area where the headstones were replaced by crypts. Choosing a rather imposing one, he sat down and leant against its wall. Jared and Taylor did the same. At least that way nothing could sneak up behind them. All they could do now was wait, wait and wait some more.

Taylor found herself constantly checking her watch. It wasn't that she was scared of ghosts, although the smallest noise had them on full alert, it was the whole going home thing she was worried about. Tony and Abby would be frantic by now and there was a good chance they'd contacted her mom and dad. Still, they had long since past the point of no return, and Taylor was determined to keep her PSP, so for the next hour and twenty minutes she was stuck between Jared and Jason. That was no picnic either, they were huddled together so tightly she could hardly move.

Closing her eyes Taylor imagined what she would be able to do with her new camera.

The highlight of their stakeout came in the form of a cat that had strolled nonchalantly past them, head held high, flicking its tail from side to side. When one o'clock finally arrived Jason admitted defeat. Taylor had won his flip camera fair and square while Jared had proved he wasn't so easily scared after all. Not keen on going home to face angry parents, or in Taylor's case babysitters, they took their time walking in the direction of the entrance. Engrossed in shining her torch on various headstones Taylor didn't realise Jason had stopped moving until she bumped into him. She directed the beam of light at whatever it was Jason was looking at. A thick chain now secured the closed gates. They were locked in.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 4**

For a few seconds Taylor froze. It was just like a horror movie. Okay she'd been nervous earlier at being in a graveyard so late at night, but now there was no way out that was another matter altogether. Trying to keep the rising panic under control Taylor surveyed the gates and wall again. It didn't help. Now she was beginning to worry about the height of the wall, the size of the gates and the chain. Just what the hell were they trying to keep in here? More importantly was it here now, watching them? Spinning round Taylor almost expected to see a scene from Michael Jackson's Thriller video. She backed up slowly until she was touching the wall. Even though they didn't know why, the two boys did the same. All of Jason's confidence had disappeared, and Jared, well he was still Jared. Both seemed to be willing for Taylor to take the lead now.

"What are we gonna do now?" Jared whispered.

"We're screwed!" Was Jason's only contribution. Not exactly helpful.

If Taylor hadn't been so intent on scanning the darkness in front of her she just might of thumped him. "No shit Sherlock!"

When neither put forward any suggestions she realised it was up to her to get them out of this mess. "There's no way we're getting over that wall. The gate we could probably climb but those spikes at the top look lethal." Images of Vlad the Impaler sprung to mind. Taylor gave herself a mental head slap. Now was NOT the time to be thinking about vampires. "We have two choices. Either we call someone to get us out of here now, or we wait until the gates are unlocked in the morning."

o

Abby poured Vance another cup of coffee, then one for herself. Vicky was at the far end of the table, trying to make herself invisible while she ate. Taylor and Jared were now forty five minutes late and it would only be a matter of time before the questions started. Neither Abby or Jared's father were overly concerned, but knowing that would eventually change Vicky was planning on having an early night. That way she wouldn't get dragged into another of her cousin's disasters.

o

Waiting for the bartender to serve him, Tony glanced back over his shoulder at the cute girl waiting for him at the table. He was finding it hard to believe she had finally agreed to come for a drink with him. He'd been trying to talk her into it for weeks. Tony grinned, in the end the DiNozzo charm had been too much for Cathy to resist. Weaving his way back to her, drinks in hand, Tony's butt had just touched the seat when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. Checking the caller ID Tony could have cried when he saw it was Abby. He was tempted not to answer. Excusing himself, Tony flipped open the phone.

Scanning the streets as he drove, Tony tried to work out what he'd done to deserve this. There was only one answer. It all boiled down to that fateful moment when he'd let Abby have things her own way. He'd known from the start Abby's method of dealing with Taylor wouldn't work. It was just so difficult to say no to Abby. Well the experiment had been a complete failure. It stopped now. He should have put his foot down from the word go. If anything happened to Taylor not only would he never be able to forgive himself, but Gibbs would kill him, and the man would have every right to do so. He'd been a complete idiot.

The instant Tony stepped through the front door Abby launched herself at him, and any anger he'd felt towards her evaporated.

"Where are they Tony? Director Vance and Jason's mom have been driving about for hours now trying to find them." She started to cry. "I tried to locate them with their cell phones, but they're all switched off."

Tony tried to calm her down. "We'll find them Abby. Either that of they'll show up, tails between their legs with some crazy excuse they expect us to believe.

"But its nearly midnight!"

"I know, but at least the four of them are together."

"Three Tony. " Abby corrected. "Vicky stayed with me when the others left."

"She in bed?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't know where they are, I already asked."

Kissing her on the forehead Tony untangled himself from her grasp. "Maybe you just didn't ask the right questions."

Vicky found herself being gently shaken awake and slowly opened her eyes to find Tony looking down at her.

"Sit up, I need to talk to you." Tony sat down on the edge of the bed. "Do you know where Taylor is?"

Vicky checked the time on the clock. Her cousin wouldn't be back for a while yet. "No. They didn't tell me where they were going."

Tony knew she was hiding something. "Do you know what they're up to?"

Hesitating Vicky glanced at the clock again then sighed. "We watched Poltergeist this afternoon."

"And?" Tony prompted, wondering what that had to do with the current situation.

"Well …Jason was giving Jared a hard time because he jumped and Taylor, she stuck up for Jared. Jason didn't like that …. You do know they both have major crushes on her, don't you?"

Tony shook his head.

Vicky giggled nervously. Neither does Taylor! But anyway, Jason dared Jared to spend time in a graveyard, and there wouldn't have been much point in doing that during the day. It had to be dark. Taylor just kinda got roped in."

"Why didn't you tell all this to Abby?" Tony demanded.

"I didn't know they were going to do it tonight, besides she didn't ask." Vicky prayed her defence was good enough.

"You sure you don't know where they are?"

"I don't, honest Tony."

He believed her, and at least they had something to go on now. What they needed to do now was regroup, and sort out which cemeteries each of them would check. There couldn't be that many in the area could there? Abby would know.

"Thanks Vicky, you can go back to sleep now,"

"I'm sorry Tony." Vicky told him as she lay down again. "I should have said something earlier. I'm sure they'll be okay, its not as if they're at some party drinking or doing drugs. They're just trying to scare the crap out of each other."

Tony frowned down at her.

"Okay, I get it, I should have told Abby." She conceded, before closing her eyes.

The members of the search party were in the process of examining a local map, trying to identify the most likely graveyards when the phone rang. Abby reluctantly answered, afraid it might be Gibbs again. The conversation she'd had with him earlier, before Tony had shown up, had not been pleasant.

Cringing she held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hi Abby …"

She instantly recognised the voice. "Taylor, where are you? Are you all okay?"

"Not exactly, we're sorta locked in. There's a big chain with a padlock round the gates. Can you come get us out?"

o

Tony and Leon, complete with bolt cutters, set off to free the captives. There was no sign of the kids as they pulled up in front of the gates. The headlights illuminated a notice on the wall, clearly stating that the gates would be locked at eleven sharp every night.

"Taylor!" Tony called out. This better not be one of her wild goose chases, she was in enough trouble already.

A nervous looking Taylor appeared from somewhere off to the side.

"Hi Tony." Eyes not yet adjusted to the lights of the car she held her arm up over them.

She was soon joined by the other two, who appeared to be just as jumpy as she was.

It didn't take long for Vance to cut the chain, and it rattled noisily as he unwrapped it from the iron bars. When the gates were opened wide enough Taylor slipped through. She was so relieved to be out of there she forgot all about being in trouble and made a beeline for her godfather. Taylor hugged him tightly. Feeling her tremble Tony, whose initial intention had been to swat her backside, instead put one arm around her shoulder and rested the other on top of her head.

The boys didn't waste any time following their friend through the gap. Jason watched Taylor guiltily as she clung onto Tony. He'd been so busy trying to impress her he'd dismissed the amount of shit they were all going to be in, and judging from the expressions on Tony and Jared's dad they were in deep. His own father was away on business at the moment, but his mom, well she didn't exactly hold back when she was angry.

Leon wrapped the chain back around the bars, making it look as if the gates were still locked, before tossing the bolt cutters into the trunk.

He eyed Jared and Jason. "What are you waiting for?" When that didn't elicit a reaction he raised his voice. "GET IN THE CAR!"

That did the trick and the boys scrambled into the backseat.

When Taylor didn't move Tony leant down, speaking softly. "Come on, we're going home."

Reluctantly Taylor let go of him and slid into the seat beside Jared.

o

The trio closely followed by Vance and Tony trailed up the path and into the house, past Abby who had been waiting for them in the doorway. Leon lined them up in the middle of the living room, as if they were waiting for a firing squad. Both Jared and Taylor kept their heads down, while Jason repeatedly glanced at his mom, trying to determine just how mad she was.

Vance ordered them to keep their heads up before slowly walking the length of the line, pausing at each child in turn. He did this twice before speaking. "Whose idea was it?"

Still feeling guilty, Jason spoke up. " Mine."

Leon positioned himself directly in front of the boy and moved in close. "Why?"

"I was teasing Jared about jumping at a movie, and came up with the graveyard thing to prove he wasn't scared. Didn't think he'd be brave enough to actually do it." He looked along the row and grinned at Jared. "He was."

To be honest Leon found it difficult to believe his son had been brave enough to do it too. "Is that true Jared?"

"Yes sir." Jared answered, pleased by what Jason had just said about him.

Taylor found herself the centre of attention next.

"And what about you? How did you end up locked in a cemetery in the middle of the night?"

Jason answered for her. " That was my fault too. Taylor didn't want to do it. I called her a chicken and told her she was just afraid of getting sent to bed early again."

"Taylor?" Vance wanted conformation.

Ignoring Jared's father Taylor glared at Jason. "I am NOT afraid of being sent to bed early!" She didn't notice the look Tony fired in Abby's direction.

"I know you're not! I only said it to make you mad enough to come with us." Jason tried to explain again.

"HEY!" Vance had heard enough. "PACK IT IN!" The argument stopped abruptly. "Jared, go wait in the car." He turned to Jason's mother, Tony and Abby. "They're all yours." Then spinning on his heel he followed his son.

That was the cue Jason's mom had been waiting for. She was on her feet and had Jason by the ear before the door closed behind Vance. Jason, blushing deeply had to move quickly to keep up with her as she steered him out through the door and across the street to their house.

Not sure what was gonna happen next Taylor stayed where she was and waited for Tony or Abby to speak. She was still waiting when the phone rang.

Tony answered, before holding the phone out for her to take. "It's for you."


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

** Sorry its a bit later than usual, I've been suffering due to lack of internet! **

**Chapter 5**

Taylor took the phone and for a few seconds all she did was stare at it. You'd have thought Tony had just handed her a live grenade. The voice coming from the receiver was rapidly losing patience and increasing in volume, so Taylor reluctantly raised it to her ear. Crap! He was well and truly pissed already. She ignored the fact that he was already mid-rant and just jumped right in. "Hi dad, how's Paris? Did you eat any snails yet?"

"Don't you hi dad me! And never mind about Paris! You know exactly why I'm calling!"

Taylor groaned. It was never a good sign when he didn't even stop to take a breath.

"What the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea how worried everyone's been?"

He wasn't even giving her the chance to answer. "I thought we'd come to an understanding about how dangerous it is to run about in the middle of the night, and why the hell did you switch off your phone? What have you got to say for yourself?" This time he did wait for Taylor to answer.

"I was just late dad, no need to burst a blood vessel!" She was annoyed he was trying to turn this into a whole big deal.

"Put Tony on."

"He wants to talk to you." Relieved that was over, she passed the phone to Tony.

Tony only had the phone for a moment before he passed it back to Taylor, then he swatted her behind, making her cry out.

"What was that for Tony?" Her butt wasn't safe anywhere these days.

He shrugged, not looking even the least bit guilty for the surprise attack. "No idea, it wasn't from me."

Taylor raised the phone. "That was so not fair! I was just tellin' you what happened.

"Start again." Jethro ordered.

"What's the point? You're just gonna get Tony to smack me again." Lack of sleep was beginning to kick in, and cranky came nowhere close to describing Taylor when she was tired.

Her father was not going to let that happen. "Hey! Do I need to tell Tony where the strap is?" He threatened.

"No." That she would avoid at all costs.

"Still waiting Taylor."

"I didn't sneak out or anything. We got locked in a graveyard and were late. We weren't doin' anything bad. That's about it. Can I go to bed now?"

"What on earth were you doing in a graveyard?"

"Lookin' for ghosts." Taylor told him as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. "Didn't see any though."

"What about your phone?"

"Huh?" For a moment she had no idea what he was getting at, then it clicked. She didn't want to answer that one. "Aren't international phone calls real expensive dad?" Taylor ventured.

"Put Tony back on."

"No way, I'm not fallin' for that one again!"

'Really racking them up, aren't you?"

"Aw come on dad, I'm too tired to think straight. Can't you just yell at me when you get home?"

"If you don't start answering my questions I'll do more than yell when I get my hands on you!" He paused to let the threat sink in. "Now I'm gonna ask you one last time. Why did you switch your phone off?"

Taylor considered lying, but there was no point, he already knew why, that's why he was asking.

"Cause I knew Abby wouldn't be able to find me if it was off."

The line went silent.

"You still there?" Well she could hope.

"I'm still here." He sounded tired too.

"Dad?" She whispered, so that no one else could hear.

"Uh huh?"

"Nothin'."

"It's not nothing, what is it?"

"I know you're mad at me and I gotta admit I'm kinda glad you're not here right now, but I still miss you, and mom." Taylor bit her lip to stop herself from crying. She did miss him, and never more so, than earlier when she had realised they were locked in the cemetery.

Jethro's voice softened. "We miss you too, but we'll be back on Sunday. Think you can stop giving Tony and Abby such a hard time until then?"

Taylor sighed. "I'll try."

"Good, now give the phone to Tony, I need to talk to him."

Without speaking she held the phone out for Tony, keeping a cautious eye on him. This time he didn't swat her, but he did head into the kitchen so she couldn't listen in.

Too busy watching Tony leave, Taylor completely missed Abby advancing on her until it was too late and Abby had a good hold on her arm.

"What are you doing?" She tried unsuccessfully to stop herself being dragged towards the couch. "Abby!" For the first time Taylor noticed just how angry Abby was.

"I'm gonna do what I should have done the first time you were late." Sitting down she pulled Taylor close enough to reach the button on her jeans.

Brushing Abby's hands away Taylor tried to step back, but in a flash Abby had a vice like grip on her waist band. She tried to free herself, not liking where this was going. "You can't! You didn't warn me you were gonna spank me if I was late again! You didn't even get mad the last time!"

Abby succeeded in unfastening her jeans and before Taylor had the chance to do anything about it she found herself securely held over Abby's lap with her pants somewhere around her knees. For a moment she was too stunned to even try wriggling off.

"But you didn't spank me when..OW!"

Abby cut her off abruptly when she brought her hand down hard on Taylor's bottom. "I know I didn't spank you before even though you deserved it Taylor, but like you said, better late than never, huh?"

o

Gibbs had just told him to 'man up' when Tony heard the distinctive sound of hand meeting butt and Taylor's cries coming from the next room.

"Ah boss, I don't think I'm going to have to 'man up'. Sounds like our friendly neighbourhood goth is doing that right now." He held the phone up so Jethro could hear for himself.

"It's about time." Gibbs growled. "I was beginning to think I was gonna have to bang all three of your heads together!"

"Come on boss, Abby was always gonna figure out Taylor was taking advantage, it just took her a lot longer than I thought it would. You know what Abby's like, she needs to find these things out for herself."

"I know. Just get in there DiNozzo, and make sure she's not killing her."

Tony reluctantly re-entered the living room where Abby was now trying to impress on Taylor, by way of her backside, what she thought about her switching off her mobile phone. By this stage Taylor had stopped protesting and was desperately trying to convince Abby she was sorry and would never ever do it again.

He believed his goddaughter was sincere, and Abby must have too, because she stopped spanking, pulled Taylor's pants up and helped her to her feet.

"You going start playing by the rules?"

Taylor nodded as she wiped one arm across her eyes and held her jeans up with the other.

Over Taylor's shoulder Abby caught sight of Tony. He was gesticulating wildly in a poor attempt at sign language. She rolled her eyes, before standing up to hug Taylor. Tony stopped, satisfied that Abby had understood she needed to comfort the kid. Taylor always looked so helpless after she's been punished and it was hard not to feel guilty. From Abby's expression that was exactly how she was feeling right now.

It wasn't long before Taylor found herself tucked up in bed beside Vicky. She had assumed her cousin was asleep until Abby left the room, closing the door behind her. Taylor jumped when Vicky spoke.

"You okay?"

"What do you think?" If the girl was awake it was a dead cert she'd heard what had happened.

"Tony really let you have it, didn't he?"

"No." Taylor pounded her pillow into a better shape, one more suited for sleeping on her stomach. "Not Tony, Abby."

"I thought Abby wouldn't …."

Taylor didn't let her finish. "Well she did, alright?" She was still a little peeved Abby had performed a u-turn on the whole spanking thing. Not that she'd never been spanked by Abby before. She had once, when she'd handcuffed her to her desk in the lab. But judging by tonight's effort Abby's heart hadn't been in it the first time.

"You must have pissed her off big time."

Taylor sighed. Vicky wasn't gonna let it drop. "Yeah, her and everyone else." She pushed herself up on her elbows. "Still won Jason's flip camera though. He's not gonna like handing that over. Mind you he might not be in one piece tomorrow." She giggled. "His mom might have pulled his ear off when she was draggin' him home."

"What about Jared?"

"Jared will be fine. He's tougher than everyone thinks you know." Taylor lay back down again. "You gonna go to sleep, or what?"

Vicky took the hint and rolled over, grateful she hadn't been dumb enough to go with them.

o

The peace of the sleeping household was shattered a few hours later. The cries and shouts emanated from the girls' room. Abby in her nightgown was first on the scene, Tony close behind, no shirt and still fastening the jeans he'd pulled on. Hitting the light switch just inside the door Abby prepared herself to confront an intruder. Instead she found Vicky sitting on the bed, bottom lip bleeding and an extremely shocked looking Taylor sprawled on the floor.

"What happened?" Tony reached down to help Taylor to her feet.

Still disorientated and breathing hard Taylor shrugged.

"Taylor had a nightmare. I don't know what she thought she was fighting," Vicky paused to gingerly touch her injured face and cringed when she saw the blood on her fingers. "but she was winning until she fell out of bed."

"I did that?" Taylor had no memory of it.

"Well it wasn't me, was it?" Vicky stated simply.

Abby quickly interrupted before a real fight broke out. "Come on Vicky, we'd better get you patched up."

Left with Taylor, Tony sat on the edge of the bed. He patted the space beside him but Taylor shook her head. "I think I landed on my butt."

"Oh, right." He was pretty sure Abby was also responsible for her discomfort, but kept that thought to himself. Reaching out he pulled her closer.

"What were you dreaming about?"

Embarrassed, Taylor didn't want to admit what had scared her. "Who says I remember?"

"How about I take a guess?"

She shrugged.

"Did it involve graveyards and locked gates?"

"Suppose you're gonna tell me its my own fault for doin' somethin' that stupid in the first place."

"No I'm not."

"You're not?" That was hard to believe.

"Nope. It must have been scary, stuck in there, especially after watching Poltergeist. The first time I watched that movie it creeped me out for days." Tony admitted.

"It did?" Taylor was starting to feel a little better.

"Oh yeah. Until I reminded myself it wasn't real. You just gotta do the same. Okay, I wasn't trapped in a cemetery, but there were no ghosts in there with you, only two dipsticks and a lot of old bones."

"And a cat." Taylor added.

Tony nodded. "And a cat." Standing up he pulled the covers back. "In you go."

Taylor hesitated. "What if I have the same dream and hit Vicky again?"

"Good point. I'll be back in a minute." He disappeared to consult with Abby.

True to his word Tony wasn't gone for long. "You can share with Abby, that way you won't be on your own."

"I'm not a baby Tony!" She protested half-heartedly.

"I know, but it'll make Abby happy, you know she likes looking after people." He led her across the landing and waited until she made herself comfortable in the double bed.

"Tony? Do you think I'm gonna have the same dream again?" The possibility of another nightmare scared the crap out of her.

He ruffled her hair. "Not if you think about something you like before you go to sleep."

"That'll work."

"Does for me."

"You have nightmares?"

"Sure."

"Bout what?"

"Mostly your dad sneaking up behind me when I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be doing. Those head slaps hurt you know!"

"Very funny." Still smiling at the thought, Taylor rolled away from him. "Night Tony."

"Night squirt."


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 6**

Sitting bolt upright, heart racing, Taylor had no idea where she was until Abby shifted slightly in the bed beside her. Everything came flooding back. The movie, the graveyard and now two nightmares. At least she hadn't pounded on Abby. Her butt might still be reminding her about the spanking Abby had given her earlier, but Taylor didn't want to hurt her. She glanced at the clock, it was almost six. Not wanting to risk another bad dream Taylor slipped out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Grabbing a bowl of cereal she settled down in front of the TV in the hope that the early morning cartoons would refocus her mind on more positive things.

By the time Tony made it downstairs Taylor had already showered and changed and was just waiting for him to punch in the code for the alarm so she could get out of the house. After all she had a camcorder to claim and she wasn't giving Jason the chance to change his mind and back out. It was the only good thing to come out of the whole mess.

Tony seemed surprised she was up so early. "No more nightmares?" He asked as he searched through his pockets for car keys.

Embarrassed by the fact that it had happened again, Taylor lied. "No."

He grinned. "So Abby's still in one piece then?"

The only response that question could warrant was a glare, which Taylor pulled off quite well.

Message received loud and clear Tony thought. That glare of hers was too similar to her father's to be ignored. He changed the subject. "So what have you got planned for today?"

"Dunno, have to wait and see what Jason and Jared want to do." Or if they're grounded Taylor added in her head, not wanting to give her godfather any ideas about making her stay in too.

Tony finally located his keys. "You got your phone?"

"Yeah."

"Is it switched on?"

"Yes Tony. Now are you gonna let me out of here or not?" Sometime today would be good she thought.

Putting the attitude down to her late night Tony disarmed the security system. He grabbed her t-shirt as she tried to pass, before kneeling down in front of her. "Make sure you behave yourself and stay out of trouble. We've had enough drama this week already."

"Okay" Taylor tried to pull herself free, but he wasn't done yet.

"I mean it Taylor, and I don't want you testing Abby again to see just how much you can get away with."

"Found that one out last night, didn't I?" She stopped trying to escape. "I'm not gonna be late, and I'll do what Abby tells me to do. I'll keep my phone switched on and you'll be the first person I call if I get arrested. That good enough?"

Relaxing his grip on her shirt Tony stood up again.

"Can I go now?" She straightened out her t-shirt.

"Uh huh."

Taylor couldn't help herself. "You sure? Maybe you missed something important. Oh! Wait, you didn't tell me not to talk to strangers, or to look both ways before I cross the street, or ….."

"Do you want to go out, or would you rather spend the day in your room?" It was way to early for this, his brain was still half asleep.

Taylor bit back a sarcastic response. "Can I go now?"

Tony nodded. "Go, before I change my mind." He watched Taylor take off across the road towards Jason's house before he walked towards his car. If he were lucky he'd still have time to catch Cathy in the canteen before they started work.

o

Taylor banged loudly on the front door and waited. She was just about to start banging again when the door opened. It was Jason and he was still wearing his pyjamas.

"You're grounded?" She asked sounding disappointed.

"Don't know. Mom's still in bed."

"Well what are you waiting for, go get changed before she wakes up." Boy, Jason could be stupid sometimes.

Jason glanced behind him nervously as if he expected his mom to appear behind him.

He headed towards the stairs when she gave him a shove. "Hurry up, and don't forget my camcorder." Taylor whispered after him, then sat down on the front step to wait.

A worried looking Jason reappeared a few minutes later. Closing the door quietly he sat down beside Taylor and held out the flip camcorder. "It's all yours." He told her as he pulled on his sneakers. "We'd better get out of here, before, you know." He pointed to the second floor of the house.

Both set off at a run, not slowing down until they were safely round the corner.

"So your mom didn't kill you then?" Taylor looked her friend up and down. "You still have two ears attached anyway."

Jason grinned and rubbed his ear. "Just about. What about you?"

Taylor grinned back. "Abby got real pissed, but I'll live." She pulled out her phone. "How much do you wanna bet Jared's grounded?"

"Nothing. I think I'll avoid betting for a while." He had no idea how he was going to tell his parents that his birthday present was gone.

Jared answered on the third ring. Taylor would have lost the bet, he wasn't grounded. He wasn't even at home, he was at work with his dad, and had been waiting for her to call. Now all they had to do was swing by NCIS to pick him up, then decide how they were going to spend their day.

As they walked side by side, Taylor decided to see if Jason was having the same problem sleepin. "Jason?"

He glanced round at her.

"Were you scared last night, you know, when we were locked in."

His blush gave him away before he even spoke. "Maybe a bit. Why?"

Taylor shrugged. "Just wondered."

They walked a few more steps in silence before she got the nerve up to ask what she'd really wanted to ask in the first place. "Did you have nightmares?"

Jason stopped dead. "How'd you know that?"

"Cause I did too."

"Oh." He felt guilty about that. It was his fault after all. "Sorry."

"What for? You didn't lock the gates."

"I know but …." He shook his head. "I spent most of the night trying to stay awake. I ended up taking some of my mom's caffeine tablets. I'm still buzzing."

"They really keep you awake?" Nicotine patches, caffeine tablets, what else was out there that she didn't know about Taylor wondered.

"Sure. It's just like drinking a load of coffee. I can show you where to buy them if you want."

Taylor looked at him suspiciously. "Are they legal? Cause Tony ain't gonna be happy if I get in trouble again."

"Who do you think I am? I'm not DJ!" The accusation hurt.

"Okay! Forget I asked that. Lead on!"

o

Purchase made, their next stop was Jared. The two kids made their way up the stairs towards the bullpen, Taylor figured she might as well say hello to Tony on their way up to the director's office. Hopefully it would put him in a better mood. Tony was not alone when they rounded the corner. There was a woman sitting behind his desk and Tony was obviously trying to impress her, he had Tim and Ziva running back and forth with armfuls of files. Taylor didn't speak until she was right behind him.

"Hi Tony."

Tony jumped and spun round. Trying hard to cover the fact he'd been startled Tony pulled Taylor close and turned her to face the woman.

"Cathy, this is Taylor."

Cathy looked her over. "You're the reason Tony cut our date short last night?"

Not sure if she liked this new woman, Taylor whispered up to her godfather. "What's she talkin' about?"

"I had to leave Cathy to go rescue you."

"Oh. Well then yeah, that would be me." Taylor kinda got the feeling the woman was expecting an apology but it wasn't gonna happen.

"Shouldn't you be grounded or something?" Cathy asked.

"No." Shrugging off the hand Tony had rested on her shoulder she wandered over to her dad's desk and sat down in his chair. Aware that Cathy was still watching her Taylor tried to ignore her by spinning round a few times. She stopped when Tony spoke.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"Meeting Jared, he's upstairs. Just thought I'd stop by and see how hard you were workin'. Ya know, so I can tell dad when he calls tonight."

"Ha!" Ziva exclaimed from behind her mountain of paperwork. "Make sure you tell Gibbs just how hard we are working!"

"I will Ziva." From the look Tony was giving her it was clear she was outstaying her welcome, so she made her way back to Jason, maintaining a safe distance, just in case. "See you later Tony."

Jared was waiting for them in the outer office with Cynthia. He'd been lying on the couch reading a comic, but immediately jumped to his feet when he realised they were there. Cracking open the inner door he let his dad know he was leaving. Taylor could hear Vance warning Jared to make sure he was on time to be picked up, but thankfully he didn't come out to see them. Taylor had seen and heard enough from him last night.

Taylor peeked over the railing at the top of the stairs to see if Tony's new girlfriend was still there. She wasn't. Tony was back behind his own desk again. That was good. Who the hell did she think she was, trying to butt in and get her grounded? If Tony hadn't been so close she'd have told Cathy exactly what she could do with her opinion. Still, Tony never tied himself to the same girl for long so it wouldn't make much difference in the long run.

She tried to slip past her godfather unnoticed but he spotted her slinking past and called her over. Taylor told the other two she'd meet them outside and went to see what he wanted.

"We're only goin' to find some good trees to climb Tony. We'll be home for lunch and back by seven." She was worried he was having second thoughts about not grounding her.

"I was only going to ask if you needed any money."

Taylor shook her head. "Still got some of my allowance left. You comin' home for dinner, or are you goin' out with _her_?"

"I'll be there, I'm picking up pizza on the way home. You don't like pineapple right?" He asked with a smile.

"No, you don't like pineapple Tony, I do." She couldn't help but return his grin.

"I'll try and remember. If you're late I can always pick it off before I eat yours." Tony threatened.

"Just you leave my pineapple alone, I'll be home on time."

When the phone on Tony's desk rang Taylor left him to it.

After lunch three became four when Vicky joined them, and she took great pleasure telling the boys how she ended up with a split lip. Normally Taylor would have been embarrassed by her cousin's revelation, but after taking a few experimental caffeine tablets she was too hyper to care. They spent the afternoon in the woods, timing and then racing each other as they climbed various trees while Vicky filmed them. Taylor was still bouncing and full of energy as Abby watched her make her way up the path with Vicky, just before seven.

Any fears Taylor had been harbouring about falling asleep were gone, thanks to her new friend, caffeine. She felt good, and now she realised why her dad drank so much coffee and Abby loved her caff-pows. Hugging Abby first, Taylor raced up the stairs to wash up, and take another couple of pills, just in case they started to wear off. She needed to keep her wits about her, Tony would be here soon and she had pizza to protect.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 7**

Taylor was buzzing when Abby reminded her that she still had to go to bed early. Feeling confident that she would be able to stay awake, Taylor didn't care. Her mom had left her a couple of new books and she had games to complete so there was no risk of boredom. When everyone else had finally gone to bed Taylor was planning on fitting in a few movies or maybe some surfing. So many choices, caffeine rocked.

When Tony appeared in the morning, Taylor was already halfway through her bowl of Rice Krispies. The possibility that she had spent the whole night downstairs didn't even cross his mind. As far as he was concerned she was just up early. Just about to take another spoonful, Taylor experienced a sudden wave of nausea. Dropping the spoon into the bowl she sprinted up the stairs, just making it into her bathroom before throwing up. Tony who had followed was beside her in seconds making sure she was okay. The nausea vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Taylor felt much better after brushing her teeth and taking a long drink of water. It was much harder to reassure Tony that she was okay. What she didn't want was for him to start fussing round her. That would really throw a spanner in the works. Finally he seemed to get the message, although he did tell Abby that she'd been sick, before he left for work.

The moment Tony started up the car Taylor popped the lid on her caffeine supply, worried she might have thrown up the ones she'd taken earlier, and quickly swallowed a few, just to be on the safe side. That sorted, Taylor headed out to find Jason.

Friday passed in a similar fashion, with Taylor taking full advantage of her extra time and energy, but by Saturday afternoon she had started throwing up again. This time she couldn't talk Abby out of calling Ducky, and Taylor found herself being questioned, poked and prodded by the man. For some reason he seemed to think she was high again, but she eventually persuaded him she hadn't taken any drugs. It wasn't fair. She'd made a few mistakes in the past with drugs and alcohol, which she'd paid for, and now even Ducky was jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst.

Taylor's mood only went downhill from there, so when Tony showed up just after dinner with Cathy in tow she was not happy. They weren't staying, Tony had just nipped in to change his clothes. Abby had been trying to persuade Taylor to go on up to bed, but she was having none of it. Instead she lay curled up on the couch and glared at the woman who'd wanted her grounded.

Cathy didn't seem bothered by Taylor's passive aggression, and chatted happily with Abby and Vicky until Tony returned.

"You don't like her?" Abby asked as soon as they had left.

Taylor shrugged. Didn't make any difference anyway.

"You sure you don't want to go to bed Taylor? You might feel better if you get some sleep."

"Stayin' here Abby, its not bedtime yet."

Not willing to risk a tantrum, Abby let her be.

About fifteen minutes later they all jumped when Tony burst through the front door and flew up the stairs. Cathy appeared soon after, looking confused.

"What's wrong with Tony?" Abby steered Tony's girlfriend into a chair.

Cathy shook her head. "I don't know. We were just driving along and Tony started squirming about in the seat and shouting nonsense. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong, just turned the car around and sped back here."

"I'll go see if he's okay." Abby tried to reassure the woman. "Maybe he's got Taylor's bug,"

Abby wasn't gone for long and returned just as confused as Cathy. "He's in the shower."

Something clicked in Taylor's head, and not for the first time that day she felt the blood drain from her face. How the hell had she forgotten about that? It was time to make a quick exit before Tony made it back downstairs. It wouldn't take him long to figure out what she'd done. When she'd decided to prank him for smacking her at the skate park, Taylor had been confident Abby would protect her. Now she knew differently. He was gonna kill her!

Hightailing it up the stairs, Taylor could hear the shower still running. She was safe for a little longer. Throwing herself into bed she pulled the covers up over her head and tried to slow down her breathing. Surely Tony wouldn't spank her if she were sick.

She almost yelled when someone sat down on the bed beside her.

"You okay?"

It was only Vicky. Pulling the quilt down a bit Taylor peeked out.

"Abby was right, you can tell her I feel better up here. I'm tired."

Vicky grinned. "I'll tell her. If you tell me what you did to Tony."

Taylor groaned and buried her head under her pillow. "He's gonna kill me Vicky!"

"Come on Taylor, it can't be that bad." Vicky was aware of her cousin's tendency to exaggerate.

"It is."

Vicky lifted the pillow up. "What did you do?"

Taylor glanced fearfully at the door before finally confessing. "I put dad's muscle rub in his shorts."

"The hot kind?"

"Uh huh."

Vicky dropped the pillow back over Taylor's head. "You're right, he's gonna kill you."

o

When Tony didn't confront her that night, Taylor began to think that maybe she had actually gotten away with it. Just to be on the safe side though, the next morning she stayed holed up in her bedroom until she was sure Tony's car was gone. If she was really lucky she could avoid him for the rest of the day. After all he'd be moving back into his own apartment, after he'd picked her mom and dad up from the airport later that night.

Not hungry, Taylor poured herself a glass of water. At least she was able to keep her caffeine pills down now. She almost choked when Tony walked into the kitchen. "I thought you …"

"Left? No that was Abby. Nice of her to leave us alone so we could talk."

"T..talk? About what?" Taylor didn't take her eyes off Tony. He was looking way too much like her dad when he was ready to start spanking. She took a step to the left to see what her chances of making a run for it were. Tony just mirrored her action, and Taylor's hopes for escape were dashed. She didn't stand a chance.

"I thought I'd let you start." He pulled out a chair for her. "Sit."

Instead of sitting down too, Tony chose to stand beside his goddaughter, towering over her for maximum effect.

Feeling intimidated, Taylor tried to explain. "Tony …. I …I forgot all about it, I swear!"

"Forgot all about what?" He asked calmly.

Taylor got her hopes up again, maybe he didn't know. She glanced up at him. Crap! He knew. He was just playin' with her the way a cat does with a mouse.

"Your shorts. I did it ages ago when I got pissed at you for smacking me in front of my friends."

Now he did pull out a chair for himself. "Taylor, what would your dad have done if you'd behaved the way you did in front of everyone?"

Blushing at the thought, Taylor shrugged and looked down at her feet.

"He wouldn't have stopped at one swat, no matter who was watching, would he?" Tony prompted.

"No." She admitted, knowing he would have put her over his knee then and there.

"I'm sorry. I did it when I was mad, then sorta forgot all about it. Until you ran up to the shower last night. Then I remembered, but it was too late." What else could she say? "You gonna ground me?"

"No."

"Well that's okay then." Taylor stood up. "I'm goin' for a walk." Fresh air would be good.

Thinking she was home free she tried to walk past him, but he just snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "You think we're done?" He whispered into her ear.

"Come on, it was just a prank Tony!" It wasn't as if he didn't pull enough pranks himself.

"Just a prank? That stuff was hot! You burnt …." He stopped not wanting to explain in any detail which parts of his anatomy had suffered.

"Burnt what?"

"It's hard to explain so it's probably better if I demonstrate exactly how you left my butt." Ignoring Taylor's panicked struggles Tony tucked her under his arm and carried her through into the living room.

A nicely timed swat as he set her back on her feet stopped her wriggling, but as he reached for his belt buckle he knew it was only temporary.

Taylor watched in horror as Tony slipped off his belt. She'd expected him to be pissed, but not this pissed. She took a step back. "You can't! It was just a prank!"

"It's not a prank when someone gets hurt Taylor. Now don't make this any harder than it already is. Do you really think I want to do this?"

From where she was standing he didn't seem too worried about what he was about to do. "Then don't!"

"Sorry squirt, you haven't left me any choice." Before Taylor had a chance to respond, Tony grabbed her upper arm, pulled her close enough to unfasten her pants then dragged her across his lap as he sat down. Now the wriggling started in earnest.

All the energy Taylor put into trying to escape her godfather was completely wasted. In fact the only thing she managed to do was kick her own jeans down, saving Tony the trouble.

Taylor looked back over her shoulder, prepared to start bargaining, but it was too late. She cried out as the leather cracked down on her backside, not caring if Vicky heard from upstairs. It was more important to make sure Tony knew just how much it hurt. Not that he seemed to care right now, the next few licks weren't any easier and Tony didn't stop until he was sure Taylor's butt was on fire.

Still crying, Taylor pushed herself up as soon as Tony relaxed his grip. She glared at him as she reached back to check her butt was still there. "There's no way your ass was this sore Tony!"

"You're right, it wasn't. Believe me it was a lot worse."

It didn't take it long for her to comprehend just how much she'd hurt him and Taylor forgot about feeling sorry for herself and threw her arms around his neck. "I wouldn't have done it if I thought it would hurt you." That was the truth.

He hugged her back. "I know."

She sniffed. Maybe I should have gone for the ice one.

"Would have been smarter." Tony stored that idea for future use with McGee.

"Yea …." Taylor felt that all top familiar feeling of nausea building and quickly let go of her godfather before dashing up to her bathroom. She made it just in time. This week had completely sucked. Taylor popped another tablet into her mouth, God knows how she'd feel if she didn't have the caffeine to help her through.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

AN: This chapter is a bit longer than usual, but it might be the last chance I get to post for a while. Right now I have two hours seventeen minutes left of laptop power, and the guy I work with thought it would be funny to hide my charger. It looks as if I'm either gonna have to beg for it back, or just murder him. Haven't decided which just yet ;-) Do they have internet in jail? Still at least I managed to finish this chapter, and it is St Patrick's Day. Hope you like it :-)

**Chapter 8**

Tony just had to follow her upstairs, didn't he! At least she'd closed the bathroom door behind her.

"You okay in there?"

"I'm fine Tony, go away!"

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"I'm going to call Ducky."

Taylor forced herself to stand up and open the door. "I'm okay."

"You don't look okay Taylor. Were you sick again?"

She lied. "No, I just thought I was going to be. It's probably your fault for whippin' me."

Tony put his hand on her forehead. It was clammy. "Might be a good idea if you stay at home with Abby today. You're not over that bug yet."

"You said I wasn't grounded!" She almost stomped her foot.

"You're not, but you're not well either. If you're not willing to do that, I can get Ducky to check you over again and he can decide."

"But I feel better when I'm outside Tony." She whined. The fresh air helped.

"Well then you can go as far as the backyard." That was the only compromise he was going to make. The kid really didn't look well. He was going to get Ducky to call by anyway.

Downstairs the front door slammed. Abby was back. Tony sighed in relief. This parenting thing was no picnic.

Taylor was already trying to find a loophole. "Well what if I'm better later? Can I go out then?"

Putting his hands on her shoulders Tony guided her back downstairs so he could hand her over to Abby. "Course you can. As long as Abby thinks it's okay."

Taylor paced up and down the yard like a caged tiger. Walking cleared her head a bit and stopped her feeling so queasy. It wasn't doing much to help her backside though, that was gonna take a lot longer to fade. Hopefully Tony was still suffering too. Abby was sitting on the back step, sipping on a caff-pow as she pretended to enjoy the warm sunny day. Taylor had never, ever seen Abby sitting in the sun before, and had almost expected the goth to spontaneously combust when the rays hit her pale skin. Vicky appeared in shorts and a very short t-shirt, showing off her bellybutton ring, all set for yet another sunbathing session in the quest for the perfect tan. Before Taylor realised what she was doing, she yawned. Crap! Her magic tablets weren't lasting very long anymore. Stepping carefully around Abby, Taylor went in search of some privacy to refuel.

As she made her way back downstairs after a quick visit to the bathroom, Taylor spotted Tony pulling up out front. He wasn't alone. He'd gone back on their agreement and brought Ducky to check her out again. Well fuck that for a game of soldiers! Taylor thought. She wasn't answerin' any more of their dumb questions, and if Ducky wanted to stick someone with a needle he could aim it at Tony. Taylor calmly made her way past Abby into the yard, trying not to draw any unwanted attention, but the moment her feet hit the grass Taylor sprinted for the fence, scaling it in seconds. By the time Abby realised what had happened, Taylor was well on her way along her familiar escape route, darting easily from one yard to the next. For the first time that day she felt good. The mixture of adrenalin and caffeine was awesome. This is what she needed, not being stuck in bed feeling like crap and bored to boot. Now, all she had to do now was track down Jason.

Although Taylor felt perfectly justified in making her escape, she was not willing to land herself in any more trouble by coming home late. At seven on the dot she made her way in through the kitchen door. The smell of whatever Abby was cooking made her stomach lurch, so she didn't hang about. Ginding Vicky in the living room watching TV. Taylor dropped down beside her, forgetting momentarily that her butt was still sore.

"Where's Tony?" Pulling her legs up under her she shifted position.

Vicky didn't take her eyes from the screen. "You're lucky, he was called out on a case."

"Abby upstairs?"

"Yeah. Tony yelled at her for not stopping you."

"Like Abby could run in those boots!" That would be something to see. Taylor reached for the remote, but Vicky didn't let go of it.

"You don't seem very sorry about it."

"I'm not. It's Tony's fault, not mine. Do we have to watch this shit?" Reality shows were her pet hate.

Vicky glared at her cousin. Over the past week she'd spent a lot of time with Abby, she liked her. "Yeah, its never your fault, is it?"

Not liking the way their conversation was going Taylor left the room without saying another word. There was no point, Vicky was obviously looking for an argument, and Taylor couldn't be bothered. Besides, if Vicky kept trying to make her feel guilty she could always have another nightmare. That would shut her up quick enough.

Taylor ignored Abby's calls for dinner. Not that she was afraid of Abby kicking off. It was just the whole idea of eating. She was lost in her book when Abby appeared.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"No." Taylor didn't look up as she turned a page.

"Tony's not very happy with you right now."

"So?"

"So why'd you run off like that?" Abby sat down beside her.

"He knows why." Losing her place, she started the chapter again.

"You feeling any better?"

"Uh huh."

"You haven't forgotten your mom and dad are back tonight."

Shit! Taylor lost her place again. "I know Abby, and I'm tryin' to read here!"

"Well if you're sure you're alright I'll leave you to it." The hurt was clear in her voice.

Taylor sighed. "I'm sorry Tony yelled at you. He told me if I stayed here he wouldn't bring Ducky."

Abby processed the new information. Tony had left that out earlier when he'd been blaming her for the kid's disappearance. She was gonna have a few choice words with DiNozzo.

"Don't worry about it. Relieved she didn't have to read the riot act Abby ruffled Taylor's hair before leaving her to her reading. "If you change your mind about wanting to eat, give me a shout and I'll fix you something."

o

After spending most of the night in the bathroom alternating between her PSP and book, Taylor listened carefully from her doorway to check no one was up and about, before heading down to the kitchen. Her mom and dad must still be asleep, they had only arrived home a couple of hours ago. It was time for another fix. Hopefully it would sort out the headache she was developing, but her mouth was so dry there was no way she was gonna be able to get them down without choking.

Letting the water run until it was cold enough she filled her glass, tossed back the little white pill in her hand and washed them down with a very long drink of water.

As she turned away from the sink Taylor discovered her mom was standing right behind her.

"Taylor! What did you just swallow?"

Startled, Taylor took a step back. "I missed you too mom!" Sarcasm dripping from her words.

"WHAT DID YOU TAKE?" Patricia shouted, positive now her daughter was hiding something.

"When?" Taylor applied rule number one, admitting to nothing.

"DON'T PLAY DUMB. WHAT WAS IT?"

"Nothin' mom. You must have been IMAGINING IT!"

"TAYLOR JACQUELINE GIBBS DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!"

"QUIT YELLIN'! MY HEAD HURTS" Shouting did not exactly make her head feel any better either.

They both heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. "What's going on? I could hear you two from the bedroom!"

"Tell him!" Patricia stepped back and waited for her daughter to explain.

Taylor stuck her hands in her pockets. "Like I said before. It was nothin'. I was just getting a glass of water."

Patricia shook her head. "She was washing down tablets Jethro."

Gibbs moved closer. "You're sweating."

"So? Its warm!" Feeling cornered Taylor tried to push through the gap between her parents, but her dad just pushed her back until her back was up against the sink unit again.

"You're also lying."

Taylor did not respond to the accusation.

"Right, lets go." Grabbing her arm Jethro pulled her through the house towards the front door.

"Where're we goin?"

"To see Ducky."

Taylor dug her heels in, bringing them to a sudden halt. "I'm not sick!"

"Then start talking." When all he got was a glare, Gibbs tugged hard enough to get her moving again.

Not sure what to do, Taylor soon found herself in the front passenger seat. Why the hell couldn't they just leave her be?

Her dad was reaching for his seatbelt when she made her break for freedom. Headache or not, Taylor flew down the side of the house, through the back yard and was in the process of climbing the fence when she was recaptured. Her head pounded as she tried to wriggle free, then pounded even more when her father tossed her over his shoulder.

"WILL YOU PUT ME DOWN! I'M NOT LETTIN' DUCKY STICK NEEDLES IN ME!"

He actually did it. He set her down. Taylor found herself standing in front of him.

"What's in your pocket?"

"Huh?" Where the hell did that question come from? Taylor tried not to panic.

"The bottle that was digging into my shoulder. Give it to me."

She stared at her father as if he had just asked her to walk on water.

Not willing to wait any longer Jethro held her still, while he reached into her pocket.

Taylor automatically put her hand out for the container. "You can't take them, they're mine!"

"Not any more they're not." Keeping the tablets well out of reach he guided her back into the house and sat her down at the table.

She watched as he emptied what was left out on the wooden surface. There weren't many.

Patricia handed Jethro his glasses. His arms weren't long enough to read the small print.

"Caffeine? Why the hell are you taking caffeine?"

Not happy she was gonna have to buy more with what little was left of her allowance Taylor kept her mouth tightly shut.

He stared at her over the top of his glasses, but she wasn't even looking in his direction. "TAYLOR!"

That got her attention. "They're not illegal, I checked."

"I know they're not. What are you taking them for?"

"To … does it matter?" Closing her eyes, Taylor rubbed her temples and let out a long breath.

"So help me Taylor if you don't start telling us what we need to know your headache is going to be the least of your worries!"

She opened her eyes.

He tried again. "Why?"

Taylor looked incredulous. "To stay awake, and I like the buzz."

"How long have you been taking them?"

Pouting, she decided to go for 'vague' "Not sure."

"Take a guess."

"Maybe three or four days, can't remember."

"Taylor there should be enough in this bottle to last a month. Did you even read the label?"

"No. I just take some when I feel tired."

"When's the last time you actually slept?"

She shrugged. "Can I go now?"

He looked at her over the top of his glasses. "Yeah you can go. Get up to your room!"

"Why? I was goin' to meet Jason."

"You need to sleep."

"But it's morning, and I'm …"

"You heard your dad." Patricia took her hand, just in case Taylor decided to bolt again and escorted her upstairs.

Taylor protested the whole way up to her room, and renewed her efforts when she realised her mom was running her a bath. She was never gonna be able to stay awake at this rate. "You can't make me sleep ya know!"

"Tony said you had stopped throwing up, did you lie to him too?"

"Don't wanna answer any more questions." Taylor focused on the foam forming on the surface of the water, and wondered why the bubbles were white when the stuff her mom had poured in was green.

Patricia didn't press the matter, and when the water was deep enough she turned away from her daughter. "In you get."

"What? I can take a bath on my own!"

"Not this time you can't, I want to make sure you don't fall asleep and drown."

"I wish to hell you'd make your mind up. First you want me to sleep, then you don't!"

Taylor quickly backed up when she saw the expression on her mom's face as she spun round. She held her hands up. "Okay, okay! I'm gettin' in!" Then hastily pulled her t-shirt off over her head to show willing.

Satisfied Taylor had given up the fight, she turned away again to give her the opportunity to slip into the water.

"How long do I have to stay in here?" Taylor whined.

Patricia lifted the pile of clothes Taylor had stepped out of and put them in the hamper. "You're only in."

"I'm bored."

"You're supposed to be relaxing."

"Don't wanna. I …."

"Too bad!" Jethro told his daughter as he appeared in the doorway, holding a glass of water. "Here, take these." There were two pills in his other hand.

Taylor regarded them suspiciously. "What are they?"

"Oh NOW you're worried about what drugs you're taking!"

Instead of saying something she'd regret Taylor held her nose and ducked under the thick layer of foam, then water. It wasn't the greatest method of evading her father, she did have to breathe after all, and a few seconds later she resurfaced. Damn it, he was still there.

"They're painkillers to help your headache." He waited until Taylor had swallowed them before taking the glass from her.

"Ducky's gonna call by and check you out, so when you're done here straight into bed."

"I told you, I'm NOT sick!" What did it take to get through to these people?

"Well then you have nothing to worry about do you?" He countered.

"That's real easy for you to say, its not you he's gonna want to stick with a needle is it?"

Jethro turned, heading back into her bedroom, not willing to listen to his daughter's objections. "You've only got yourself to blame Taylor, so suck it up!

It didn't take long for the painkillers to kick in, so by the time Taylor was being forced into the bed Vicky had just vacated, she was feeling great, and raring to go. She didn't need to sleep, what she needed to do was to burn off some energy. Would her mom listen? Not a chance! The only way Taylor was going to get out of this bed was to convince Ducky she was okay.

o

Her plan to convince Ducky that she was fine hit a major setback the moment he stepped into her room. The man was angry, but Taylor wasn't sure what he was madder about. The fact she had taken the caffeine tablets in the first place or that she had lied to him about it.

Ducky didn't speak as he popped a thermometer into her mouth, before rooting through his bag for a sterile needle.

Taylor knew what was going to happen next and didn't like it one little bit. She removed the thermometer. "You don't need that. I'm alright Ducky."

He frowned at her before taking the thermometer from her hand and replacing it under her tongue.

"If you hadn't lied to me the last time we spoke I would have believed you. You told me you hadn't taken any drugs." He held the empty bottle up as evidence.

Taylor didn't remove the thermometer this time to speak. "Orry" She glanced over towards the doorway where her mom was standing, arms folded and looking decidedly unimpressed by the revelation that she'd lied to Ducky.

Once the reading on the thermometer was read he reached for the syringe. "Didn't you realise it was the caffeine tablets that were making you throw up?"

Eyes locked on the needle, Taylor lost patience and scowled at him. "How was I supposed to know that? You're the doctor, not me!"

Taylor was not the only one losing patience. Ducky gave her thigh a sharp smack. Not hard, just hard enough to let her know he wasn't going to put up with any more of the attitude. "Do you realise how lucky you are? Too much caffeine can kill you. Each one of those little tablets is the equivalent of three cups of coffee, and at your age you shouldn't be taking them at all."

Ducky lifted the syringe again. "Now give me your arm, I need to make sure you're not using any other drugs you're not telling me about."

Still shocked by the swat, Taylor held her arm out, staring at Ducky's red and white spotted bow tie so she wouldn't see the needle going in.

"How many have you taken today?" Ducky pulled the plunger back slowly, filling the syringe with blood.

"One, I didn't have many left." Taylor admitted truthfully.

"Well I trust you won't be taking any more?" He looked up to see her reaction.

"Doubt it." Not if her mom and dad had anything to do with it.

"Good." Ducky packed everything back into his bag. "All done. You can get back into bed now."

"Wouldn't it be better for me to stay up? I'm not tired."

"As you so accurately put it a few moments ago, I'm the doctor Taylor, not you."

Now Taylor wasn't sure if he was making her stay in bed just because she'd pissed him off. "But why?"

"Young lady, you haven't slept in days and your body needs sleep to function properly."

He was on his feet now, and obviously not going to change his mind so Taylor slipped under the covers again before her mom decided to intervene.

It looked as if she was gonna be stuck here for quite a while.

o

Hearing Jason out front with his skateboard was too much of a temptation for Taylor to resist. She was out of bed and over to the window in a flash. He eventually noticed her waving and made his way over to her.

"Still in your pyjamas?" He grinned up at her. "What'd you do this time?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right."

She held her camera up. "Do you want me to film you?" It would give her something to do, and he might even do something funny, like fall on his ass.

Leaning out her window, Taylor was able to get great shots of Jason as he skated up and down the sidewalk. Some of the tricks he pulled off were actually quite impressive. She had just given him the signal to go again when someone launched a surprise attack on her butt, almost making her drop the camera. Jason realising they'd been sprung when Taylor yelped and was jerked back into the room, made himself scarce.

Quickly turning her backside away from her father Taylor scowled at him.

"You're supposed to be in bed, not hanging out your window!"

"But dad, my headache's gone and I'm not tired."

He took the camcorder out of her hand. "I'll make sure Jason gets this back."

"It's not Jason's anymore it's mine."

"How?"

"I won it off him."

"By doing what?"

Taylor had a feeling he wouldn't be impressed by her answer but couldn't think of anything else he would believe. "He didn't think I would stay in the graveyard for an hour."

'Is that so?"

Taylor nodded.

"Well you're going to give it back."

"What? Why? I won it fair and square!"

"You won it doing something you knew you shouldn't be doing, and you're not going to profit from a crime."

"But …."

"Subject closed Taylor." Jethro was just about to put her back into bed again but a quick look around the room made him change his mind. Books, iPod, CD player, PSP, not to mention the window overlooking the street, provided to many distractions for his bored daughter. Taking her hand he led her across the landing to his own room. There was nothing in here to keep her amused. "Into bed." He told her as he closed the drapes.

"You're just trying to torture me!" Taylor whined, but obeyed none the less.

"You're torturing yourself by not letting yourself sleep. The only reason you leave that bed is to use the bathroom. Understand?"

"No." Taylor crossed her arms.

"No?"

"I don't understand how you think you're gonna get me to fall asleep when I don't want to." Well, she didn't!

"Oh you'll sleep. Now close your eyes."

Taylor rolled over onto her side but kept her eyes open. Why didn't she want to fall asleep? It would be a hell of a lot easier for everyone including herself if she just gave in. But then why should she? They told her when and how to do everything else and she put up with it. Well most of the time anyway. Taylor sat up as soon as she heard her dad make his way downstairs. Even though the caffeine she'd taken was starting to wear off, Taylor was not ready to surrender just yet. The curtains did not stop all the daylight filtering through and scanned the room for something to do. Not a flamin' thing. Then she had a brainwave. Earlier in the week they had watched some older kids as they took it in turns jumping off a wall, twisting and turning, before landing deftly on their feet.

Standing up Taylor tried a few experimental bounces. Starting off small, she gradually increased the force of her jumps, until she reached what she considered to be maximum height. Something caught her eye on top of the closet. Another bounce allowed Taylor to double check. Yep. It was it alright, no doubt about it. Now she knew where her dad kept that flamin' strap. A few bounces later Taylor was just psyching herself up to try a forward flip when the bedroom door was flung open.

"HEY!" Jethro roared.

Startled, Taylor dropped down onto the mattress and scooted under the quilt.

"THAT'S IT!" Jethro had reached breaking point.

That did not sound good. Taylor watched him warily as he stalked towards the bed and sat down beside her.

He pulled the cover back. "Turn over!"

Taylor rolled onto her side. At least now she couldn't see how mad he was.

"Right over."

Crap! Reluctantly she turned until she was lying on her stomach. The swat Taylor was waiting for didn't happen, and she groaned when she realised what he was up to. It was much worse. "You're not playin' fair dad!"

Ignoring her, Jethro continued to gently rub her back and shoulders, the way he used to do when she was much younger and was too hyper to sleep. Seeing her jumping on the bed had reminded him just how effective it had been. It never failed to work.

Taylor tried to fight it, but couldn't. The tension seemed to drain away, and before long she couldn't stop her eyes from closing. Body betraying her, Taylor finally surrendered and for the first time in days, allowed herself to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**After a lot of shouting, swearing, threats and a few well timed smacks when no witnesses were present, my charger has been returned. Thank you for all your support during my recent struggle **

**Chapter 9**

Jethro set a sheet of paper and a pencil on the table in front of his daughter. "I want you to make a list of everything you did wrong last week, and why you did it. I've already spoken to Tony, Abby and Ducky, so don't get any bright ideas about leaving anything out."

Maybe she should have told him she was still feeling sick, but when she'd woken up without a headache this morning, the idea of finally escaping her bedroom had been foremost in her mind. Two days of headaches and nausea had left her stir crazy up there. Caffeine withdrawl had not been fun.

Taylor looked down at the paper and wondered if it was big enough. "You mean like a confession?"

"Exactly."

She pushed it away. "No." She'd figured her dad would eventually confront her about her behaviour, but there was no way she was giving him all the ammunition he was gonna use against her.

"I'm not asking Taylor." He straightened up where he was leaning up against the counter, but didn't move closer.

"Good, cause I ain't doin' it!"

"That's your call." Gibbs glanced at the clock on the wall. It had just gone ten. "You have until ten thirty." Not trusting Taylor to stay put he took a seat opposite and picked up the newspaper.

Staring at the sports page her father was now hidden behind, Taylor tried to decide if it was worth making a run for it. The fact he was on the other side of the table might give her a few seconds head start, but opening the front door would mean she would lose time. She needed to test the water and there was only one way to do that. Taylor stood up.

Crap! He was on his feet a split second later. "What? Can't I even go to the bathroom?"

"Go on then." He nodded towards the stairs.

For a moment Taylor thought she was getting the head start she so desperately needed, but her dad followed right behind her as far as the front door. So much for that idea! He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Taylor had completed her charade and she was soon seated at the table again.

Escape was ruled out. The only thing left was her stubbornness. If he already knew everything she'd done what was the point? She'd also promised not to take any more drugs, illegal or legal, unless she checked with either him or her mom first.. He just wanted to catch her lying or avoiding the whole truth, and no matter what she put down, her dad would only make whatever it was, much worse than it had actually been. There was also the possibility that she might unwittingly confess to something he wasn't aware of at all. Fuck it! She was stickin' to her guns!

As the minute hand jerked closer to the six, Taylor became slightly more nervous, but was still resolute. She twisted round in her chair. Where the hell was her mom when she needed her? And why was her dad hiding behind the paper? At least if she could see him she could tell if he was getting mad.

With less than sixty seconds left, Taylor's brain kicked into overdrive. Moving as little as possible she eased her phone out of her pocket, opened her contacts list and selected 'home'. The phone was back in her pocket before her dad lowered the newspaper and stared past her as if he could see into the living room where the phone was ringing. At first she didn't think he was gonna answer it, but he eventually stood up.

"Don't move." He warned.

Nodding, Taylor kept her eyes locked on him as he passed her and headed towards the source of the noise. It was vital she timed this perfectly. The second her dad turned into the living room Taylor was up and out the back door. Her heart was in her throat as she climbed the fence, not sure if her dad was following, and if he was, just how close was he, to catching her. As she made her way through the yet another yard, Taylor risked a look over her shoulder. There was no sign of her father. It was hard to believe her ploy had worked. She hadn't expected to make it to the fence, never mind escape completely. It had really only been a stalling tactic. Well that and a healthy dose of stubbornness. Now that she was free Taylor had no idea what to do next. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Her uncertainty only increased when she remembered the times when she'd run off before, none could be described as successful. Hesitating, Taylor considered turning back, but then decided it might be wiser to give her dad some time to calm down. Then she'd go back, apologise and write out her confession. Somewhat relieved that she actually had a plan, Taylor stepped through the narrow gap in the hedge, onto the sidewalk and collided with someone much bigger than herself.

"Sor…crap!" She swallowed hard. "I was comin' ba….OW!"

"Don't want to hear it Taylor, now MOVE!" Jethro grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards home.

"Dad, I …." He stopped so suddenly Taylor almost banged into him again.

"If you want we can deal with this right here." He growled.

Taylor shook her head, there was no way she wanted that, not with all those people driving past. Pleading was going to have to wait.

When the front door closed behind them Taylor tried again.

"I'm sorry, I was comin' back. I don't even know why I ran!" What more could she say without lying?

"You're telling me you were going to come straight back?"

Taylor cringed. "Maybe not straight back, I was gonna wait 'till you calmed down a bit."

He wasn't buying it. "What you were doing Taylor, was trying to avoid consequences, the way you always do!"

They were now back where they'd started, in the kitchen, and her father was showing no signs of releasing her arm.

"Well you may have got away with behaving like that last week when your mom and I weren't around to keep you in line, but you're not getting away with it any more."

Taylor was still thinking of a way to justify why she'd taken off, when her dad decided he'd done enough listening. Resting a foot on the wooden rung of the nearest chair he dumped her over his knee and started spanking. "You do realise if you put as much thought into staying out of trouble as you do trying to avoid getting caught or being punished, I wouldn't have to keep doing this."  
"Whatever!" It just slipped out, and any hope Taylor had that he didn't hear, quickly vanished when he stood her up again. "Guess that was one of those count to ten moments huh?"

"Yep." One deft movement unsnapped her jeans.

Losing the protection offered by the denim spurred Taylor into wriggle mode, but it didn't have the slightest effect on the accuracy of her father's stinging swats. She had just started crying when the front door slammed shut.

Finishing up with a couple of extra powerful smacks Jethro stopped spanking, but he didn't let her up.

"You ready to start writing?"

"Y…es." Taylor didn't have enough hands to wipe her eyes, blow her nose and rub her backside, but she tried anyway.

"You gonna run again?" Running was becoming a habit with his daughter.

"No."

Finding herself released and set back on her feet Taylor quickly pulled her pants back up again.

Jethro waited until she was done before tapping her under the chin so that she would look at him.

"You might be interested to know I don't want you to make a list so that I can punish you."

Taylor wasn't quite sure if she believed him. "You don't?"

"No. I just want to know what happened, and why you did it. Abby and Tony both punished you, and you're not going to take any more tablets without checking with us first, are you?" The past few days had been hard enough on her.

She shook her head. "Why didn't you just tell me that?" Nothin' was ever easy.

"Shouldn't have to, and you know better than to run." He reminded her.

Jethro sat down and guided Taylor onto his lap and held her close.

She didn't protest, her butt wasn't quite ready for the hard surface of the chair just yet. Taylor picked up the pencil. "You sure you're not gonna get mad?" It was best to double check.

"I'm not gonna get mad Taylor. Just be honest."

Reassured, Taylor started to write, starting with Tony and the milk.

"Is it safe to come in now?" Tony stuck his head into the kitchen. "Abby not here yet?"

"Patricia's picking her up, they'll be here any minute."

Tony peered over Taylor's shoulder. "What're you writing squirt?"

Taylor only glanced at him. "A confession."

"Oh, that's what was going on when I came in. Boss you do know a confession taken under duress isn't going to stand up in court."

"That's not what's going on Tony, now sit down and let her finish."

Jethro had been reading as Taylor listed point by point how she'd screwed up. To her credit the reasons behind each were honest and exactly what he'd expected. As far as last week was concerned, today would hopefully be the end of it. All he had to do now was sort out the well meaning but inept babysitters.

When Taylor finally put the pencil down her mom had just arrived with Abby, who gave her a small grin before sitting beside Tony. She looked nervous, but Taylor wasn't going to get the chance to find out why.

Jethro kissed the top of her head. "You can go find Jason now, just behave yourself and don't be late."

Not giving her dad the chance to change his mind, Taylor hightailed it out the back door.

o

"Look, I know Taylor gave you a hard time, and I wouldn't blame either of you if you didn't want to step into our shoes again in the future. But if you do, we need to know Taylor's going to be safe." He passed Taylor's confession to Abby. "I think both of you should read this."

Jethro waited until Abby finished reading and she'd handed the sheet of paper to Tony. "Quite an impressive list there, even for Taylor, wouldn't you say?"

Abby nodded. "I had no idea about the caffeine, I'm so sorry Gibbs. I don't know what to say."

"I just want you to tell me if you could have done anything differently, and stopped Taylor spiralling out of control."

Finished, Tony stared at Gibbs in disbelief. "That's what was making her sick?"

"Uh huh." Jethro leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. "Well Abby, any ideas?"

Abby made eye contact but not for long. Taylor's confession told her everything she needed to know. "It's all my fault, isn't it?"

"No."

"What do you mean no? Taylor did all those things because she thought I would let her get away with it, or that I'd stop Tony from spanking her."

"Tony?"

"I know, I know, I should of put my foot down from day one." Tony shook his head. He'd known that before seeing what his goddaughter had written.

"Well yeah Tony. I thought you'd have known to do that after the last time."

"I did boss, I …. I …." Tony didn't want to point the blame at Abby.

He didn't have to, Abby interrupted. "I wouldn't listen Gibbs, it's not Tony's fault!"

If Tony thought he was off the hook, one look at his boss convinced him otherwise. "I should have gone with my gut and stopped the experiment." He instantly realised he'd made a mistake.

"EXPERIMENT? YOU USED OUR DAUGHTER AS AN EXPERIMENT?"

Patricia put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down before he dragged Tony across the table.

"Poor choice of words, I meant Abby thought she'd respond to her 'less hands on' approach."

"Jethro, Taylor wasn't exactly blameless in all of this."

"I know, she's just as guilty as you two, but it's in her nature to keep testing the boundaries, hell, both of you know that! If she finds even a crack in those boundaries she pushes right on though."

Abby looked close to tears so he softened his tone. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty Abby. I just want to make sure you understand the way Taylor thinks. It's not always logical, sometimes it's downright confusing, but if you take away the limits and consequences, that's when it gets dangerous. Understand?"

Both nodded, still looking extremely guilty.

He grinned at the pair across the table. "Good. Now that's sorted, we're planning on taking a two week cruise next month. How would you two …"

Patricia cut him off with a playful head slap. "Stop teasing them Jethro!"


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 10**

The summer was almost over. Taylor, acutely aware of school looming on the horizon was making sure she made the most of every second she had left. Most mornings she was out of the house by eight to meet up with Jared and Jason, only returning at lunch to prove she was still alive and to eat. Then she was gone again until her curfew. Lying on the couch with her feet over her dad's lap, Taylor used her fingers to count how many days she had left. Not that she didn't already know, but she kept hoping she'd miscalculated. Vicky would be going home in a few days too, and even though they didn't hang out together all the time Taylor was gonna miss her.

Suddenly realising Taylor was watching, Vicky stuck her tongue out, then grinned at her cousin.

Returning the gesture, Taylor turned her attention to her father. "Dad?"

"Uh huh?" He didn't take his eyes off the TV screen.

"You sure it's against the law not to go to school?" It sounded like a dumb law to her.

"I'm sure." Now he looked at her, wondering what plan she was concocting now. It had better not be anything like the year when she'd spent the last few days of her vacation trying to find somebody with chickenpox.

"Well who would go to jail, you or me? Cause if it's you I could always visit."

Jethro gave her a mock glare and tickled one of her sock covered feet, making her jump. "You'd send me to prison just so you don't have to go back to school?"

Taylor considered the idea for a few seconds. It was a sacrifice she could live with. "Yeah."

"Oh that's nice!" Her feet were attacked again, so Taylor changed position to protect them. Now upright, she leant against him, wriggling closer when he put his arm around her.

"What about mom? She whispered.

Attention on the TV, Patricia was oblivious to the possibility of doing jail time.

"Sorry Taylor, there's no way out. Besides, maybe you'll like it this time."

"You say that every year dad. It never happens." The scowl on her face was identical to that of previous years when the subject of a new school year was brought up.

"Don't forget Jared will be there."

"I know, but its still boring!"

Patricia glanced round at her daughter. "I heard that Taylor!"

It was time to change the subject before Taylor's mood deteriorated any further. "Did you ask Jason about the barbecue?"

"Yeah, he's coming."

"Are you going to help me set the barbecue up?"

"Suppose." It beat helping out in the kitchen. Vicky could do that.

o

Abby arrived at the house early. She'd volunteered to help out with the food, but didn't make it as far as the kitchen before Vicky intercepted her.

"Got something to show you." Checking the coast was clear, Vicky lifted up the front of her t-shirt to reveal a large intricate tattoo encircling her belly button.

Abby gasped, and for a moment couldn't think of anything to say. Then her tongue decided to work. "Have you lost your mind?"

Vicky's face fell. She had thought that if one person would approve, that person would be Abby.

"Don't get me wrong. I like it, I really do! But Gibbs is gonna kill you. Then me! He freaked out when I took Taylor to get a henna one!" Abby's hands flew up to cover her face. "Holy crap! Vicky, please tell me Taylor didn't get one too!"

Vicky tried to calm the frantic goth down. "It's not your fault Abby, you didn't know anything about it."

Patricia seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Did what all by yourself? And just why is Jethro going to kill both of you?"

There was no way on this earth Abby was going to lie, but she had no intention of being the one to tell Patricia about the tattoo. She waited for a few moments to see if Vicky was going to confess. When that didn't happen she resorted to nudging the girl. "You have to show her Vicky."

Very reluctantly Vicky lifted her shirt again and waited for her aunt to explode. When she'd been getting the tattoo Vicky had felt confident about her decision, not to mention brave. Now, all that evaporated as Patricia's expression conveyed exactly what she thought about her new body art. Beside her Abby wrung her hands. Vicky had a sudden urge to run, but successfully resisted.

"Is that thing real?" Patricia prayed it was another of Abby's henna tattoos.

Vicky nodded. "Yes." In an attempt to ease the tension she spoke again. "Do you like it?"

"NO VICKY, I DO NOT LIKE IT, AND I'M POSITIVE YOUR PARENTS AREN'T GOING TO LIKE IT EITHER!" Patricia shouted as she stepped to the side, giving Vicky access to the stairs. She lowered her voice. "Get up to your room, and stay there. I'm too angry to deal with this right now!"

Without another word, Vicky raced up to her bedroom, closing the door safely behind her.

Abby quickly figured out she was next in the firing line and held her hands up. "I had no idea she was going to do that, I swear! I would have stopped her!"

"Relax Abby, I know it's not your fault. Vicky has a mind of her own."

"You think Gibbs will believe that?" Her anxiety was reduced, but not gone.

"Of course he will." Just to be on the safe side Patricia thought it would be better if Abby wasn't around when she broke the news to her husband. "I have a list of things I need picked up from the store if you're still willing to help?"

o

Jethro had just lit the barbecue when he noticed Patricia gesturing to him from the back door. Warning Taylor not to get too close he made his way over to her.

Without speaking she pulled him into the kitchen.

He briefly glanced out the window to check Taylor was keeping her distance from the flames before giving Patricia his full attention. "What's going on?"

There was no easy way to break the news. "Vicky has a tattoo."

"What? You mean like the one Abby got for Taylor?"

"Nope. It's the real deal."

"But who would tattoo someone her age, she's way to young?" His head whipped round in search of his daughter again. She was still fascinated by the barbecue. You don't think …." There was only one way to find out. "TAYLOR!"

Taylor trotted obediently into the house. "Yeah dad?"

"You got something you need to tell us?"

He was standing with his hands on his hips and looked pissed. This felt like a trap.

"Like what?" Taylor asked nervously, they couldn't have found out, could they? She thought she'd have a lot longer before they figured out what she'd done.

Jethro was not in a patient mood. "Not playin' games Taylor. I want the truth NOW!"

Jumping at the sudden increase in volume Taylor hung her head. "How'd you find out?"

He took a step towards her. "It doesn't matter how I found out. I know. Now where is it Taylor?"

"I thought you knew? You just told me you did!" She protested.

Jethro ran a hand through his hair. He could tell Taylor wasn't stalling, She was confused and so was he. This conversation wasn't making any sense. "Wait a minute! Taylor what do think I know?"

"That I …" Taylor clamped her mouth shut and raised her head to look from one to the other. Maybe they didn't know after all."

"Taylor …." Patricia warned, voice low and threatening.

She narrowed her eyes as she regarded her dad. Didn't make any difference, Taylor still couldn't see inside his head. "What do you think I did?"

"Enough questions! It's answers we're after!" Gibbs held his finger and thumb about half an inch apart. "I'm this close Taylor, now what did you do?"

The finger and thumb thing was never good. Confessing fast was the only way to avoid a sore backside, and missing out on all the fun later. She dropped her head down again. "I .. ah … " 'Hid' was not a good word to choose, neither was 'destroyed'. "I ah ..moved the strap from the top of your closet." There, she'd said it. Reluctantly Taylor looked up at him and was surprised. He actually looked relieved. "

"So you didn't get a tattoo?" He watched carefully for her reaction.

"What? I'm not that crazy! You won't even let me get another henna one. Why did you think …." All the pieces fell into place. "Vicky got a tattoo? Without me? That is _so_ not fair! Who did she get to do …" Okay now her father was not looking quite so relieved. Her mom didn't exactly appear to be over the moon either. Bail out Taylor! "Not that I would have gotten one too, but it would have been nice to be asked."

Almost wilting under the heat of his glare Taylor backed up a little. "Just out of curiosity, what would you do if I did?"

When her dad's face turned an even deeper shade of red Taylor diffused the ticking time bomb that was his temper, by quickly moving forward and hugging him. "Maybe I don't want to know."

Relaxing, he ruffled her hair. Taylor took that as a sign she could go back outside, but only managed a few steps before her dad spoke again.

"Taylor, aren't you forgetting something?"

She stopped and turned, confused. "What?" Taylor looked at her mom. "You want a hug too?"

Jethro shook his head. "The strap Taylor, go get it!"

"I would, if I could, but I can't." She shrugged.

Folding his arms he glared at his daughter. "Why not?'

Taylor took a precautionary step away from the pair of them, before answering. "Cause you just set it on fire. Besides you told me to keep away from the barbecue."

"You put it in the barbecue?" He'd been there the whole time, she couldn't have.

Taylor gave him a nervous smile. "No. I put it in the bag of charcoal. Technically _you_ put it in the barbecue and _you_ lit it."

Jethro made straight for the window. There was a lot of smoke, but there was still a chance the coals weren't hot enough to damage the thick leather. He grabbed the long metal tongs from the counter and bolted outside.

Taylor shoved her hands into her pockets and watched the rescue attempt with interest. When her mom joined her at the window Taylor glanced up at her. She was grinning at her husband's efforts. He might be a good NCIS agent, but he was no fireman. Chunks of charcoal bounced to the ground as he braved the smoke and raked through the coals. They watched as he lifted the strap up into the air with the tongs and ran towards the house, holding it out in front of him, wasting no time getting it to the kitchen sink. Dropping it in he doused it in cold water.

"Is it dead?" Taylor asked hopefully as she peered into the sink. It didn't look very burnt. She had been hoping it would be all shrivelled up.

"I think it'll live." He replied dryly. "And you're gonna help it recover. Go wait in the basement, I'll be down in a minute."

Taylor thought about objecting, but he didn't seem angry and she wanted to keep it that way, so with a last glance into the sink she went to wait.

It wasn't long before Taylor heard her father's footsteps on the wooden stairs. The strap was in his hand, but he still didn't look mad. Setting it down on the workbench in front of her he reached for the little bottle of oil they used on their mitts, and a cloth.

"You remember how to use this?"

"Uh huh." Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. The oil had left the leather on her baseball glove nice and soft.

"Good. I'll be back down in an hour to check it's done properly."

"A whole hour?"

"Yep."

"But everyone's gonna be here soon!" Taylor didn't want to be stuck in the basement if Jason and Jared were around.

"Would you prefer another form of punishment?"

That sounded too much like a threat. Scowling, Taylor picked up the cloth and dabbed some oil on it. "No. I'll do it."

"Thought you might." Jethro slowly climbed the stairs. He wasn't looking forward to the phone call they had to make to Vicky's parents.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 11**

Taylor didn't spend anywhere near a whole hour administering first aid to the strap. There were way too many distractions in the form of unexplored cupboards and boxes, to concentrate on her given task. Although Taylor made sure she was oiling the strap when her dad reappeared an hour later, she had also acquired a pocket full of bits and bobs that might come in useful in the future. Nothing important or valuable that would be missed, but silly little things like a thick piece of elastic which could be fashioned into a makeshift catapult if she tied it to her thumb and a finger and a realistic looking worm from her dad's tackle box.

When her dad showed up, Taylor waited patiently for him to check the condition of the strap. He seemed happy enough, but instead of letting her go he handed her a hammer and nail.

"What's this for?" She was eager to go track down Jared and Jason and wasn't overly keen on being roped into another boring task.

He pointed to a wooden support to the right of the workbench. "There will do nicely."

Still not sure why, Taylor hammered the nail in until her dad told her to stop, then turned to see what he was doing. He had punched a hole into one end of the strip of leather.

"Perfect. You can hang it up."

Taylor was not impressed but did as she was told. "Why?" He was looking way too smug for her liking.

"Three reasons. One, I'll notice if you try to get rid of it again, two, it'll remind me to keep a closer eye on you, and three, it will hopefully inspire you to behave." Ignoring her scowl Jethro nodded towards the stairs. "You can go now, Jared's waiting in the yard."

Making sure she didn't voice her opinion about the new 'decoration' Taylor gave him one last glare before escaping from her makeshift dungeon.

o

As she made her way through the house Taylor was surprised to find Vicky at the kitchen table. Still annoyed at being left out of her cousin's plans, she marched right over to her. "How come you can still sit down?"

"I've been given a temporary reprieve, until tonight." Vicky admitted.

Taylor folded her arms. "So are you gonna let me see it? Or are you gonna keep that a secret too?"

Standing up, Vicky lifted her t-shirt. "What do you think?"

"Did it hurt?" Taylor took a closer look. The skin around the tattoo was a little bit red, but other than that it didn't look painful."

"Just a bit. Getting my ears pierced was worse."

Jealously building up fast, Taylor had to tear her eyes away from the tattoo. "Where'd you get it?"

Dropping the t-shirt, Vicky shook her head. "I'm not allowed to tell you, and I'm in enough trouble as it is."  
"When did you start worrying about getting into trouble? Your ass is toast anyway, so what difference does it make if you tell me?"

Vicky opened her mouth to answer, but it wasn't her cousin's voice Taylor heard.

"It makes a lot of difference."

Taylor spun round to face her father and said the first thing that came into her head. "I was just testing her, ya know, to see if she'd tell."

"The only thing you're testing today Taylor is my patience!" He warned.

Vicky made a quick exit out the back door, at the same time Taylor found herself deposited on the counter top. Avoiding eye contact with her dad was impossible as he leant in close, a hand on each side of her, effectively trapping her in place.

"I don't know how to make this any clearer Taylor, so listen up. You are only twelve years old and you are NOT getting a tattoo." He didn't shout, instead keeping his voice low and menacing. "Even if you manage to get the information out of Vicky it's not going to make any difference. First thing tomorrow I'll be paying him a visit, and I'll be making sure that if you show up looking for a tattoo the first thing he's gonna do is call me. Believe me Taylor you do not want that to happen. Do you understand?"

She sighed. "Yeah." Taylor understood alright. Any hopes she had of getting a tattoo had just been shot down. Didn't mean she had to like it. "Can I go now?"

Jethro straightened up and moved back a bit, leaving Taylor enough room to slide off the counter top and drop to the floor. At least this time it looked as if she had accepted what he'd said. The disappointment was clear in both her expression and body language.

Instead of heading outside to join the others, Taylor made a beeline for her bedroom. As far as she was concerned they could stick their barbecue. Slamming the door behind her, Taylor grabbed her PSP and threw herself down on the bed. Being twelve sucked, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

o

When Vicky showed up about an hour later to let her know Jared and Jason were wondering where she was, Taylor tried to ignore her, but the girl just wouldn't take the hint. Just about to tell her cousin to fuck off, Taylor stopped herself when Vicky mentioned Tony's girlfriend.

"Cathy's been telling everyone how Tony had to rescue the three of you from the graveyard. She thinks it's hysterical."

Now Taylor had something else to be pissed off about. Only this time she could actually do something about it. Leaving Vicky mid story, Taylor crossed the landing into her mom and dad's room. It had a perfect view of the back yard. Everyone was there. Abby and Tim, Ziva, Ducky, Jason, Jared with his mom, dad and sister, and right at the back of the yard, on one of their folding tables were Tony and Cathy. She watched them all for a few minutes, trying to come up with some sort of a plan. It didn't take long. Now she had someone to vent her frustration out on she felt much better.

It didn't take long for Jared and Jason to meet her out front once they each received a text message.

"What's going on?" Typical Jason. Always suspicious.

"I just need you two to provide a little distraction." Taylor grinned at them. "Got a little prank lined up for Cathy."

"Is that the woman with Tony? The one who won't shut up about the cemetery?" Jared kicked at the ground with his foot, normally laid back, he'd been embarrassed by her story telling."

Taylor nodded. "That's the one."

"What are we gonna do?" Jason didn't like her much either, so he was in.

"Nothin' bad. Just give her a little scare of her own." She held up the rubber worm. "Want to put this in her burger. Tony's waiting for it coming off the grill right now."

Both boys grinned.

"If you two provide a distraction up near the house I can come up behind them over the fence. Just don't stop until you see I'm back out of the yard again. Easy! Besides even if I do get caught, it's only a rubber worm not a real one."

Jared took the worm from her, examining it closely. It did look like the real thing. "Got a better idea." He put the worm in his mouth and bit it in half, before passing it back to Taylor. "Finding half a worm in your food is way worse than finding a whole one."

Now why the hell hadn't she thought of that? Taylor hoped she wasn't losing her touch. "Anyone ever tell you you're a genius Jared?"

Five minutes later, Taylor was watching Cathy through a gap in the fence. It was perfect. The woman was working her way through a burger, and every now and again she would set it down on the table behind her while she talked to Tony. When almost half of the burger was gone Taylor waited for her to set it down again before texting Jason. He would feel it vibrate in his pocket.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR YOU IDIOT?" Jason yelled as he pushed Jared in the chest forcing him to take a few steps back.

"I'M THE IDIOT? WHY DON'T YOU WATCH ….."

All eyes were on the two boys as Taylor moved like lightening over the fence. Trying not to be distracted herself by how well her accomplices were doing, she slipped the worm into the bun, leaving a little hanging out of the eaten side of the burger, then just as quickly she retreated back over the fence.

When Taylor emerged from the kitchen a few moments later the argument was over and both were being warned by Vance to behave themselves and shake hands. They did, and the show was over, for now. Choosing a spot on the grass, well away from Tony, but with a clear view of Cathy, the three sat down and waited.

Even Taylor jumped when Cathy's piercing scream filled the yard. Tony being so close almost had a heart attack, jumping to his feet and automatically reaching for his gun, which of course wasn't there. Ziva and Tim had done the same.

Patricia reached Cathy first, who was by now close to tears as she pointed to the burger that now lay in pieces on the ground. "There's something in it!"

Unable to resist, Taylor quickly moved in and reached for the worm, holding it up in front of Cathy's face. "It's a worm. No! It's not. It's only half a worm!" She looked at the woman accusingly. "You ate a worm? What'd it ever do to you?" She did not get the opportunity to say anything further. Cathy did something Taylor had not even considered. She threw up.

That was not good. Still holding the evidence, Taylor backed away as Ducky and her mom took charge, ushering the distraught Cathy into the house.

"Get rid of it Taylor, if they want to see it they'll figure out it's rubber." Jason whispered from just behind her.

He was right. Taylor made sure no one was looking before tossing it over the fence.

The three of them slunk back to where they had been sitting and listened to what everyone had to say on the matter. Most were speculating on how something like that could have happened, Abby coming up with some completely crazy ideas. Unfortunately the general consensus seemed to be that it was impossible and someone had to have put it there.

Tony was the first, but by no means the last to turn in their direction. Taylor ignored them and tried to start up a conversation with Jason, but the yard fell silent as her dad, Tony and Leon stalked towards them.

"Stand up!" Jethro ordered.

All three quickly scrambled to their feet.

"What ya pickin' on us for?" Taylor asked nervously. It was hard enough to hide anything from her dad, never mind adding another two agents to the mix.

It was Tony who answered. "Take a look around Taylor, do you see any other suspects here?"

She put her hands on her hips, ready for an argument. "Yeah ….. YOU!"

Tony let out a growl as he reached out to grab her, but her dad beat him to it. Grabbing Taylor by the arm to hold her still he swatted her backside. "That's enough Taylor!" He stepped back so he could see all three. "Alright. Who did it?"

Jethro knew exactly what his daughter was about to say, and held his finger up in front of her. "Don't you dare pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I know it had to be at least one of you."

That seemed to take the wind out of her sails, for all of about two seconds. For some unknown reason Taylor seemed to be angrier with him, than he was with her. He really hoped she was counting to ten.

It was time to become more direct before she did or said something she'd regret. "I'm only going to ask you this once Taylor. Was that one of your pranks?"

Taylor really, really wanted to lie, but her dad would know, he always did, and it was not worth the risk of him spanking her right here in front of everyone.

Staring at her sneakers, Taylor sighed before answering. "Yeah."

"What about you two?" Vance asked the boys. "Let me guess, you staged your argument earlier?"

Taylor kept a wary eye on Tony as Jared and Jason admitted their involvement. He didn't seem interested in the fact that she was not the only one involved in making his girlfriend throw up. Right now his attention was focused on her and her alone. It was probably a good thing he didn't have his gun she thought. Taylor shifted uncomfortably, not noticing her partners in crime were already heading into the house to apologise.

"What're you waiting for?"

Taylor's head snapped round when her dad spoke. "Huh?"

He pointed towards the back door. "Inside."

Relieved by the opportunity to put some distance between herself and her godfather, Taylor raced after her friends.


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

**Chapter 12**

The three pranksters waited with Leon and Tony in the living room while Jethro went in search of Cathy. Trying to appear unconcerned, Taylor dropped down on the couch, and returned Tony's accusing glare with one of her own. It was all his fault anyway, he'd picked her.

Jethro returned quickly, pulling Taylor to her feet as he passed, before lining her up with the other two. "What on earth possessed you to do something like that?"

None of them spoke. "I just asked a question! Taylor?"

"Oh, I thought that was one of those ret … retor ….."

"I think the word you're looking for is rhetorical."

"Yeah, one of those questions."

"Well it wasn't!"

"It was just a prank dad. How were we supposed to know she was gonna fu ..freak out?

"YOU LET HER EAT A WORM! HOW'D YOU THINK SHE'D REACT?" Tony was losing it, and started to pace up and down.

"Ya don't need to yell Tony, and no we didn't!"

He stopped right in front of her. "So now you're denying it?"

"Don't be such an …."

Jason quickly interrupted before Taylor said what he thought she was about to say. "It wasn't real, it was rubber, and Cathy didn't eat any of it."

"Is that true Taylor?" Jethro asked.

"Yeah, what would we wanna hurt a worm for?" Taylor continued the answer in her head. Cathy maybe, but not an innocent worm.

"Where is it?" He was examining her face, searching for even the slightest trace of a lie.

"I threw it over the fence." Even Taylor had to admit to herself, that did sound ever so slightly suspicious.

"You're not buying that, are you boss?" Tony turned to his goddaughter. "Can you prove it wasn't real?"

Reaching into her pocket, Taylor produced the unused section of the worm. "This do?"

Jethro took the worm and passed it to Tony. "Cathy might feel better if you show her this and let her know she didn't actually eat any of it."

Some of Tony's anger seemed to disappear as he nodded. He wasn't very good at dealing with hysterical women, and if there was a chance that Cathy could be calmed down he's take it.

o

When Tony left the room Jethro turned his attention back to the kids. "I understand it was a prank that got a little bit out of control, but you shouldn't have done it in the first place. So, as soon as Cathy comes down you're all going to apologise."

Jared and Jason both responded with a guilty "Yes sir." Taylor on the other hand was mulling over the idea.

He raised an eyebrow curious about what she was thinking. "You got a problem with that Taylor?"

Even though she wasn't happy, she also knew there was no alternative. "No."

"Good." Taking her by the arm he turned Taylor to the side and smacked her backside half a dozen times before pointing to a corner. "You don't move from there until your mom tells you to."

It wasn't just her ass that was burning as Taylor stared at the walls. Her face was red too. The embarrassment at being punished in front of her friends vanished however, when Taylor heard both boys being subjected to exactly the same treatment. The room fell silent as her father and Vance retreated to the kitchen and coffee pot.

o

They were only stuck in the corner for about ten minutes before Patricia told them they could come out. When Taylor turned she found Tony and Cathy there too. She immediately realised apologising was not going to be as easy as she'd thought it would be. Something about the woman just pissed her off. Luckily she didn't have to go first. Jason, as the eldest took it upon himself to apologise first. Jared jumped in next, and before she knew it, it was her turn. Everyone was watching her. Taylor shuffled nervously, but just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Her mom looked just as annoyed as Tony. "We're waiting Taylor!"

"Why should I say I'm sorry just cause she can't take a joke?" Taylor looked towards Tony. "Isn't it about time you traded her in for a newer model anyway?"

Patricia grabbed the back of her daughter's shirt, holding her in place. "Jared, Jason, you can go back outside now."

Neither wasted any time getting out of there. If Taylor wanted to dig herself in deeper, she was on her own.

When Taylor tried to break free Patricia tightened her grip. "Excuse us Cathy, we'll be back in a few moments."

Taylor found herself moving rapidly into the kitchen. "Mom? What're you doing? Let go!"

"I don't know what Cathy did to antagonise you, and right now I really don't care. She's Tony's girlfriend, and a guest in this house. You'll treat her with respect Taylor, or we're just going to have to keep doing this."

"Doing what?" Crap! Her mom was going for the wooden spoon. "You're supposed to count to ten mom, and then change your mind!" Taylor caught sight of her father for the first time, at the table with Vance. "Tell her dad!"

"I heard what you said Taylor, so don't expect any help from me. All you had to do was utter two words and you'd have been free to go."

Taylor could think of two words she'd like to utter right now to her father, but it would not be worth his reaction.

Patricia sat down and tried to pull her closer, but Taylor wasn't budging.

"You keep fighting your mom, and I'm going to take over." He warned.

"But …" She started to protest, but when her dad set down his coffee, Taylor threw herself over her mom's lap.

"I knew I should have stayed in my room. See what happens when you try to be social!" She muttered, more to herself than to anyone else.

"Don't give me that! You knew exactly what you were doing!" Patricia brought the spoon down with a sharp smack on Taylor's bottom. "You wanted me to count to ten, right?"

Taylor shook her head, that had hurt. "You sure it wasn't five?" The spoon landed again and this time she couldn't stop herself from yelping.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said ten." Not wanting to drag it out any longer Patricia quickly gave her the other eight swats, before letting her stand up. "Now get back in there and apologise properly, before I really lose my temper!"

Still rubbing the sting from her butt, Taylor flew out of the kitchen and skidded to a halt in front of Tony and Cathy. She ignored the fact Cathy was looking extremely smug, she would have heard everything. "I'm sorry about the worm, and I didn't mean what I said about Tony trading you in. I just wanted to make him mad."

Taylor jumped when her mom spoke from the doorway, and hoped she hadn't noticed her fingers had been crossed throughout the whole apology.

Patricia nodded. "You can go now."

Thankfully she hadn't. Off the hook, Taylor hightailed it back out past her dad and Vance, to the yard.

"Stubborn isn't she?" Leon commented with a grin.

"Just a bit." Jethro stood up and set his coffee cup in the sink, it was time to resume his barbecue duties. He wanted to keep an eye on Taylor, just in case the little brat had something else up her sleeve.

o

The three amigos kept a low profile for the rest of the evening, although Taylor could't resist firing a few dirty looks in Cathy's direction. The woman seemed to enjoy being the centre of attention, and had even managed to get her appetite back. It was just a pity Jason had to spill the beans about the worm not being real.

"You better not be planning anything else."

Taylor jumped, she hadn't noticed her dad coming up behind them. "What's the point? No one appreciates a good prank anymore. Not even Tony." She shook her head, disgusted at the idea of Tony turning serious. "He still looks mad."

He sat down on the ground beside her. "Tony will come round. He's done worse to McGee, although I wouldn't push him any more tonight."

Sighing, Taylor stood up. "I know." She gave Tony one last glance before holding her hand out to help him up. "You said you'd help us practice our passes. Jason's gone to get the football."

"I did?"

"Uh huh."

Taking her hand, Jethro pushed himself up. "Suppose I'd better then."

O

Jethro waited until Taylor had gone to bed before he mentioned the tattoo again. Vicky had been sitting quietly beside her aunt for the past half hour, stealing the occasional glance over at him. He was sure the girl was aware of just how much trouble she was in, especially after the conversation she 'd had with her father earlier, but she seemed to be accepting it. It was a sharp contrast to how Taylor fought tooth and nail to avoid being punished. He switched the TV off with the remote. "It's time we got this over with."

Vicky nodded, and stared at her hands.

"Is there anything from the talk we had earlier, or the one you had with your dad, you don't understand?"

She shook her head. "No. I get it. I should of waited until I was older, because its a big decision and something you can't change." Vicky looked back down at her hands again. "You're not going to let me come back again, are you?"

Patricia put a hand on her shoulder. "Where'd you get that idea from?"

"Because I've put the whole tattoo thing into Taylor's head. I didn't even think about how'd she'd react. I'm sorry."

"This isn't about Taylor, she can make her own choices Vicky. It's about you doing something stupid that you might regret someday. You're not old enough to make a decision like that." Jethro moved closer, sitting down on the coffee table in front of her. "Of course we're not going to stop you coming back." He gave her a small grin. "If that was the case we'd be sending Taylor to Atlanta with you."

Vicky smiled back, obviously relieved.

"On the other hand though, we do have to punish you." Jethro stood and reached for his belt buckle. He hadn't been sure how to do this without hurting her stomach. "With me."

Taylor's warning about not wanting to feel her uncles belt ringing loudly in her head, Vicky followed him into the kitchen.

Vicky watched, eyes wide as Jethro kicked out a chair and pointed to it. "Drop the jeans, bend over and put your hands on the seat."

Scared as she was, Vicky obeyed. There was no point running, it would only make it worse, at least she'd learned that much from her cousin. Closing her eyes Vicky waited for the first lick.

The intensity of heat the belt left behind made her gasp and stand up. Taylor had not been exaggerating. Vicky didn't even get the chance to turn around.

"Get back down Vicky, or you'll be taking the rest bare." Gibbs stated calmly.

There was no way she wanted that to happen and quickly bent over again. Losing her jeans was embarrassing enough.

Making little noise as her uncle laid swat after swat, Vicky eventually couldn't take any more and began to cry. That was the point at which Jethro stopped. He helped her straighten up, and fix her jeans.

Vicky's mind was focused only on the raging fire on her butt. She didn't care that the man she was now clinging to, had been directly responsible for it. Vicky needed comfort and he was giving it. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are. No more tattoos Vicky, not for a few more years anyway.'

"Okay. I won't, I promise." Calmer now, and relieved it was all over, Vicky yawned.

"Before you go to bed, I forgot to ask. Tattoos are expensive. Where'd you get the money from?" The thought hadn't even crossed his mind until now.

Vicky looked up at him sheepishly. "If I was Taylor I'd be telling you it's all your fault."

"My fault?" Even his daughter would have a problem trying to pin that one on him.

"Yeah. I used the money I saved when you made me stop smoking."


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters._

*I know it's not very long, but hey - it's the last chapter :-)

**Chapter 13**

Taylor heard Vicky moving about in the room next door, and gave her enough time to get into bed before going to check if she was still in one piece. Vicky's red eyes gave away the fact that she'd been crying, but other than that her cousin looked unscathed as she lay on her side under the covers.

"He didn't kill you then?"

Vicky shook her head. "No, but you were right about his belt."

"Burns, huh?"

"Oh yeah. I'll not be doing anything dumb enough to deserve that again."

Taylor giggled. "It's not that easy! You're bound to screw up again."

The bedroom door opened. It was Patricia.

"I suppose you're going to tell me you're sleepwalking Taylor?"

"No. I was checking Vicky was okay."

"Uh huh, well now you know, you can go back to bed before your dad catches you up."

Vicky grinned as she watched her cousin trying to manoeuvre herself through the door, all the time keeping her butt out of her mom's smacking range. It was going to be really quiet at home without having Taylor around all the time.

o

The next few days passed in a blur. As soon as Vicky flew back to Atlanta, Taylor found herself caught up in the whole shopping for school supplies nightmare. Luckily she made it through the ordeal with her backside intact, but only just. Then, with the dreaded day only minutes away, Taylor lay in bed watching the numbers on her clock change. Four zeros flashed up. Summer vacation was over, and further away than it would ever be. It was time to start working out how long it was until Halloween.

This had to be the worst day of the year, but like every one that had come before, there was no getting out of it. Taylor loosened her tie and opened the top button on her shirt. Flamin' uniform felt like a straight jacket. "It's all your fault I gotta go to school today. Jason doesn't start until tomorrow." She informed her mom.

"You've told me that three times already Taylor, and that's just in the last thirty minutes."

It was a hard pill to swallow, knowing that if she hadn't moved schools, today would still be a holiday. "Just reminding you."

Patrica sighed, then spotting Taylor's adjustments to her uniform, swiftly buttoned the collar and pushed the tie back up. "That's better. All set?"

Scowl on her face and dragging her feet all the way, Taylor followed her out to the car.

o

Jethro glanced up when Taylor emerged from the elevator. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going home with your mom."

Taylor ignored everyone, including him, as she stalked towards Tim's empty workstation. Dumping her backpack on the floor she gave it a kick before dropping into the chair.

Jethro tried to come up with something positive to say. "At least that's your first day over with!"

His daughter folded her arms and glared at him.

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad! What happened?"

"I got detention."

"Who gave you detention on your first day back? Mr Millar?"

Taylor looked absolutely disgusted. "No …..Mom."

Ah, that explained the attitude. He glanced at his watch. There was no point asking her what she did to deserve it, Patricia was bound to fill him in later. "Did your mom drop you off?"

"No."

"So, how'd you get here?"

"I drove, Ferrari's parked outside." Her dad looked a little pissed at that answer. He wasn't big on sarcasm, so she quickly reverted to the truth. "I walked."

Tim had left himself logged onto his computer, so Taylor used the opportunity to check out her emails.

Jethro took his glasses off and set them on the desk. "It's too far to walk on you own, you know that!"

"I'm here aren't I? Nothin' bad happened." He really needed to chill out a bit.

"That's not the point!" A thought struck him. "Wait! Does your mom know where you are?"

"Told her I'd see her at home." She didn't like the look he was giving her. "What? I just wanted some time to calm down!"

"That worked well." Tony piped in.

If he didn't have anything helpful to say she didn't wanna hear. "Shut up Tony!"

Gibbs smacked the desk. "Hey! That's enough! Taylor I'm sure you have homework, so leave the computer alone and get started."

Crap! She'd forgotten all about homework. It came under that category 'leave it to the last minute'. "Can I take it down to Abby?" That would stall it for a little while.

Jethro wanted to keep an eye on her, at least until she snapped out of the mood she was in. "You can go and see her when you've finished."

Great! There was no escape! Why hadn't she just walked on home instead?

Taylor had thought the day couldn't get any worse, but then Cathy appeared. She was carrying a folder under her arm to make it look as if she was busy, but it was pretty clear all she wanted to do was fawn over Tony. Taylor abandoned her homework. By this stage she'd done all she was willing to do anyway, and decided to glare at the woman instead. It wasn't having much of an effect though, Cathy was way to engrossed in trying to be 'cute'. She was lucky her dad wasn't there to see her distracting Tony.

Quietly, Taylor moved up behind her. "Hi Cathy."

Cathy dropped the folder, and the sheets of paper it had contained, fluttered to the floor.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Taylor gave Tony her best innocent look. Then it was her turn to jump when her dad whispered into her ear.

"Pick … them …. up."

Without turning, Taylor dropped to her knee and retrieved the sheets. Shuffling them into a semi neat pile she handed them back to Cathy. Did she get a word of thanks from her? Not a chance!

Gibbs rested a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Cathy, you can have Tony when he's finished his report."

Blushing, Cathy made a quick exit.

Taylor couldn't resist calling out after her. "Bye Cathy!"

"Tony, WORK!"

"Yes boss."

Jethro steered his daughter back towards McGee's desk. "Grab your bag, we're going home."

Following him into the elevator, Taylor hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder and looked up at him. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Forgotten what?"

"We always go out to eat on my first day back. Can we?"

He hit the stop switch. "That depends."

"On what?"

"Whether or not you're gonna give your mom a hard time about school today." Jethro did not want to go back to world war 3.

"That's blackmail!"

"Or bribery, whatever you want to call it. It's up to you. I wouldn't mind having liver or even some cabbage tonight."

That was gross. Taylor only thought about it for a few seconds. "Alright."

"Alright what?"

He wasn't making this easy. "Alright, I won't give her a hard time."

This time Taylor hit the switch and the elevator jolted into action. With the promise of chinese or pizza, maybe the day hadn't been so bad after all.

o

Jethro didn't take his eyes off the workbench, as he heard Patricia descending the stairs and stop just behind him. "Taylor go to bed without a fight?"

"For once. I'm surprised she didn't start complaining about the detention again." Patricia hadn't liked handing out the punishment, but Taylor didn't leave her much choice. She'd been warned twice for not paying attention and disrupting the class. If the other students thought they could get away with misbehaving, controlling the class would become impossible.

Jethro shrugged. "You're not complaining are you?"

When she didn't answer, he looked up. Patricia was staring at the strap, hanging on the post, with a huge grin on her face.

"What?"

"I hate to tell you, but that's not going to work Jethro."

"You don't think it'll work as a deterrent? I thought it was a good idea! It worked with me, for most of the time anyway." He sounded disappointed. "What's wrong with it?"

Trying hard not to laugh, Patricia shook her head. "It was a good idea Jethro. Taylor just had a better one."

Jethro hadn't a clue what his wife was talking about. The strap was still there, and in one piece. "What do you mean?"

She nodded to the strap. "Take a closer look."

He did, and still couldn't see anything wrong.

Now Patricia _was_ laughing. "You sure you investigate crime scenes?"

"What am I looking for?"

"Check out the nail."

"The nail?" Putting on his glasses he leaned in closer. "What's wrong …. Damn it!" Whatever was holding the strap up, it was not the nail, it wasn't even touching the leather. She hadn't had she? Jethro reached out and tried to move the strap. It was stuck solid. She had! Their daughter had superglued it to the wall.

The End


End file.
